The word “bistro” is a wonder and a puzzlement. For we know instinctively what the word means … without actually knowing what the word means.
Indeed, no one is really clear on where it came from. By common usage, a bistro is “a small restaurant serving moderately priced, simple meals in a modest setting.” Fine. No question there. But dig a little deeper, and the word gets as cloudy as a tasty crock of onion soup.
Apparently, in the 19th century, a bistro was an “innkeeper” — which was spelled “bistrot.” To writer Emile Zola, a bistro was a drinking establishment. (And indeed, it still is.)
But my favorite, possibly apocryphal definition credits the word to the Russian troops who occupied Paris in 1814. They would go to small cafés to order pick-me-ups. And, according to legend, they would shout “Bistro! Bistro!” — Russian for “Quickly! Quickly!” The occupying troops didn’t stick around. But the word did. And whether the tale is true or legend, it’s stuck around, too.
I love the bistros of Paris with the same passion I reserve for the pubs of London, the delis of New York — and the taco stands of Los Angeles. It’s hard to recreate them anywhere else. But it can work … sort of … north by northwest. There’s a wonderful bistro in Washington, D.C. called Le Diplomate, with a large table near the entrance where thick slabs of bread are sliced all day long. Their steamed mussels with super crispy french fries are the food of dreams.
And though we don’t have anything quite as lively here in Southern California, Deux Bistro in Woodland Hills certainly gives me joy. It’s not as rambunctiously noisy as the bistros I love. But the food is fine — served at midday, in my experience, to ladies who lunch. They do not holler “Bistro!” when ordering their refreshing Sancerre or Pomerol. But they do linger over their warm goat cheese salads and smoked salmon tartines.
And, since the pommes frites are properly crispy, my heart was full. And so was my stomach.
The tables are polished wood. The ceiling is hammered tin. There are dangling lightbulbs out of another era. A sign over the open kitchen declares “Oui chef!” That my server didn’t have a French accent worthy of Maurice Chevalier surprised me. But the food and wine are all properly Gallic. That the traffic of Ventura Boulevard creeps along outside can be a shock after your croque monsieur and brisket en daube.
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Deux Bistro is both a journey back in time … and a restaurant with a sense of what we eat today. This is bistro cooking. But the menu is not a doctrinaire creation. The classic dishes make for a compendium of greatest hits of the dishes that define the word bistro for most of us. There’s a French onion soup, heavy with thick croutons which soften in the darkly colored onion broth, topped with a thick blanket of melted Comté cheese. There’s a French omelet, light and fluffy, filled with Emmental cheese — a more sophisticated sibling of Gruyère.
There’s steak tartare, which is a secret passion of mine. Raw seafood doesn’t push the edge of cuisine nearly as much as raw beef. I love the taste. I love the texture. And I love the flavoring of capers, Dijon mustard, and Tabasco. (Is Tabasco traditional? Far from it. But it’s good nonetheless. Food is not preserved in amber.)
And, of course, there’s poulet frites and steak frites, both for lunch and dinner. And for dinner only, moules frites — chubby and dripping white wine butter. There’s something deeply atavistic — primal, even! — about the pleasure of lifting each mussel out of the sauce, and plucking the meat out with my fingers. I guess I could do it with a utensil, but it wouldn’t taste the same.
If there’s a quandary here, it’s choosing between the crème brûlée and the chocolate mousse. I noticed the ladies there for lunch had no such problem. They ordered each of them. In multiples. Modified indulgence is the essence of the bistro experience. Just enough is the watchword. So is “Oui chef!”
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
Deux Bistro
Rating: 3 stars
Address: 20969 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills
Information: 747-230-4034; www.deuxbistrowh.com
Cuisine: Classic French bistro, a journey to the Left Bank in the West Valley
When: Lunch, Tuesday through Friday; dinner, Tuesday through Sunday
Details: Wine and beer; reservations important
Prices: About $40 per person
On the dinner menu: 10 Appetizers ($5-$20), 9 Entrees ($19-$42), 6 Side Dishes ($8-$10), 2 Desserts ($12)
Credit cards: MC, V
What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)