Pied-à-Terre

Continuing our 2011 French restaurant tour, we paid a return visit to Pied-à-Terre, the cool bistro owned by Andrey Durbach and Chris Stewart, the duo behind La Buca, Cafeteria and the now-closed tour-de-force Parkside as well.

As we walked to the restaurant from the bus stop, we admired the playful sign on the side of the building by noted local artist Robert Chaplin.

I don't know about you, but when we leave the car and bikes at home and take public transit, we almost feel obligated to indulge. Accordingly, we started off with a couple of aperitifs.

dubonnet

While I very much enjoyed my Dubonnet, I think I prefer the Dubonnet cocktail we made at home a few weeks ago.

vesper martini

The Vesper martini was also good, although I kept thinking of its namesake, the femme fatale from Ian Fleming's first ever Bond novel, Casino Royale.

We easily chose two appetizers, along with a glass of sauvignon blanc to keep them company. The savoury pithivier pastry was a pleasant departure from the typical onion tart, and the succulent scallops were divinely nestled among the mushroom, bacon and potato.

pithivier of onion, sage and gruyere cheese;

apple purée, endive and mustard salad

seared scallops, roasted mushrooms, bacon,

potatoes, herb salad, truffled vinaigrette

Okay, okay, we also ordered the soupe du jour. The seafood bisque just sounded so appealing that we couldn't resist. We were not disappointed.

seafood bisque

I wouldn't be entirely accurate if I stated that our main course selections were driven by our desire to drink a good red wine, but I wouldn't be too far from the truth. The 2004 La Dérive Domaine de Cabrol Cabardès, as recommended by our server, was spicy and full-bodied with a rich finish.

centre cut tenderloin with roquefort-mustard sauce

The centre-cut tenderloin was cooked to a perfect rare-to-medium-rare, the roquefort-mustard sauce was amazingly good with generous chunks of cheese, and the frites were super crispy. We were offered a house-made mayonnaise that we happily accepted.

pork belly plat du jour

The crackling pork belly had a splendid mix of flavours.

apple tart with house-made vanilla ice cream

We had already decided to order three desserts.

"doughnuts" with coffee mousse

They were all delightful, but the highlights were the house-made vanilla ice cream with real vanilla beans, and the thick crème fraîche that accompanied the cherry almond tart.

cherry almond tart

The service team was superlative all night, and the sleek but classy decor set the mood beautifully.