Le Bar a Boeuf Is Cincinnati’s Lifeline to Classic French Cooking

Images by Jeremy Kramer

If it is been a few of years considering the fact that you’ve been to Le Bar a Boeuf—Jean-Robert de Cavel’s pleasurable-however-refined French bistro located on the 1st ground of the Edgecliff Private Residences in East Walnut Hills—it may possibly be time for a revisit. The restaurant has gone through extraordinary (and welcome) modifications because our original review in 2015. The previously burger-centric menu now methods the full repertoire of bistro classics. The variations are so comprehensive that the restaurant’s name, which basically interprets to “The Beef Bar,” no for a longer time suits, irrespective of the quite a few cow sculptures that grace its interior. Maybe “Table Redux” would be far more apt.

The closure of de Cavel’s beloved downtown bistro in 2020 is mainly liable for the improvements. Following Table’s closure, lots of of that restaurant’s kitchen and entrance-of-household personnel, including Chef de Delicacies Jordan Brauninger, manufactured the move to East Walnut Hills. Luckily for us, the eatery’s renowned hospitality and dedication to approachably exquisite French cuisine designed the go, much too.

Services commences with ethereal slices of warm, crusty baguette, accompanied by a tiny glass of creamy butter—the ideal get started to any decadent deep dive into French cooking. The menu reads like a biggest hits list of bistro fare, with escargot, beef tartare, duck leg confit, steak frites, and French onion soup all making appearances. As France’s affect on American fine dining has waned, it is refreshing to see a cafe fully commited to not only preserving the French classics but reinvigorating them.

As appetizers go, the artichoke appetizer (a deceptively easy identify) is really suggested. The pungent, vinegary artichokes completely counterbalance the creamy poached egg, mushroom ragout, and creamy hollandaise, which, like all sauces at Le Bar a Boeuf, is brought to the table in a gravy boat that your server will fortunately pour above your dish at your ask for. This welcome possibility epitomizes the restaurant’s fantastic support it extends the royal treatment method without having forcing it on you.

Le Bar a Boeuf has an comprehensive and thoughtfully curated specials list—one that showcased a diverse array of products on every of my two visits. In correct French tradition, the specials make inventive use of scraps and trimmings. The fish cakes attribute scraps of grouper and halibut, breaded and frivolously fried, topped with capers, and served with a tart remoulade. It’s a meaty fish cake, with just adequate filler to hold it all jointly, its briny taste deeply craveable. De Cavel says that he expects the specials to rotate commonly primarily based on seasonality mainly because most of his meat and make occur from nearby farmers and purveyors. The freshness of said develop is finest typified in the salads at Le Bar a Boeuf. The “Trio of Grapes” could possibly be a little bit of a misnomer because the grapes serve much more as garnish. The foundation alone is arugula and cauliflower, supplemented with creamy goat cheese and almonds and drizzled with a pink wine vinaigrette.

The entrées are soul-warming French convenience foods. The “local chicken”—served with gentle root veggies, a decidedly restrained mushroom risotto, and a rosemary wine demi-glace—is a very simple dish, exquisitely executed. The juicy chicken’s crisp skin offers a delightful textural contrast to the velvety risotto. This hearty-however-refined dish encapsulates Le Bar a Boeuf’s raison d’etre: to deliver an approachably elevated just take on French cooking. De Cavel describes Le Bar a Boeuf as a spot where by an individual can get a foie gras dish, adopted by a cod sandwich or mac and cheese.

The menu, with its target on restraint and subtlety, demonstrates a life time expended in French kitchens. The most delightful “fruit” of this labor is the crispy duck, starring crispy, fatty duck filets served with goat cheese grits, shiitake mushrooms for additional umami, kale, and a honey bourbon demi-glace. This playful mixture of French and Southern strategies demonstrates the restaurant’s creative imagination. And Le Bar a Boeuf doesn’t just engage in the “greatest hits” it improvises on them. Situation in level, the delicate bacon-wrapped salmon, served around a brilliant, aromatic saffron orzo. Ditto for the spoonably tender brief rib, served with a pungent parsnip puree, rather of a additional predictably bland starch.

Photograph by Jeremy Kramer

All of the entrées have been superb, from the peppery steak and frites, with its accompanying harissa mayo for the fries, to the veggie entrée: a creamy-but-crunchy mac and cheese interspersed with clean slide greens. The server have to have recognised we would adore our entrées simply because she questioned “How was your initially chunk?” as we dove in. In all my yrs of dining out, I have never been questioned that. I suppose if I had been serving meals this good, I would be keen to know, much too.

Le Bar a Boeuf has no formal dessert menu, but Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Solnom delivers a variety of weekly dessert specials. The silky crème brûlée, with its glassy caramel shell, is the platonic great of the dish. The chocolate mousse, served with chocolate powder and bitter, juicy berries is also an excellent stop to a high-quality French meal.

Whilst de Cavel says he hopes to reopen Table sometime, he’s in no rush to do so. I request him if Le Bar a Boeuf’s menu will adjust once more if Desk reopened. His remedy? “Good question. We’ll see.” I confess, I requested the problem simply because I was hoping the cafe would remain just like it is. But I suppose it doesn’t genuinely matter—that this foods exists someplace nearby is the significant issue.

Le Bar a Boeuf, 2200 Victory Pkwy., East Walnut Hills, (513) 751-2333