Cafe Bernard

An old client of mine used to speak very highly of Cafe Bernard, so I'd been meaning to give it a whirl. I finally decided to pull the trigger on Friday, when Jeff and I were looking for a place to have dinner in Lincoln Park.

All in all, it was a very solid dinner experience. The ambiance is interesting. The interior reminded me of an old French farmhouse. It's dark and open and the tables and chairs have a rustic quality that I actually enjoyed. The restaurant, though it's French cuisine, doesn't feel overly chic or stuffy. The experience reminds me more of dining in the South of France, rather than Paris. I couldn't help but think of the experiences Peter Mayle describes in his books, which I absolutely love. (Check out A Year In Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence if you love hilarious memoirs from a British ad man who up and moved from London to Southern France to fully realize and embrace his love of food and a slower way of life.)

Our waiter was wonderful and helped us pick out a nice French wine. It was a Rhone that worked well with both of our entrees, robust enough to stand up to Jeff's entree, but not so full-bodied that it overwhelmed mine. The bottle was a Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine Jerome Gradassi, but I'm afraid I can't remember the year. Sorry, winos!

For my entree, I decided to try their signature dish, the grilled North Atlantic salmon in a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce. It was quite tasty. I've never had fish in a red wine sauce before and I actually really liked it. The sauce had just a hint of sweetness that played well off of the richness of the salmon, which was impeccably cooked. The fish was served with some grilled baby Yukon Gold potatoes and a mixture of veggies (carrots, green beans, zucchini) that had most definitely been cooked in butter. All of the elements worked very well together to create a hearty meal perfect in the rustic setting. All in all, I was very happy with my meal.

Jeff tried the roasted rack of lamb in a rosemary au jus. Rosemary au jus is brilliant; it works so well with lamb. The combination was absolutely perfect and served with some whipped potatoes and a buttery mix of vegetables similar to mine.

For dessert, we stepped a little out of our comfort zone by ordering the white chocolate mousse with berries. While we're very familiar with chocolate mousse, neither of us had ever had a white chocolate one. It was delicious. Definitely sweeter than a conventional chocolate mousse, but perfectly paired with the tart blueberries, blackberries and strawberries all layered into a parfait glass. Like the donkey in Shrek, I love me some parfait.

Cafe Bernard is most definitely worth a stop for a good rustic* French meal that's not at all pretensious. I'm very glad I finally went!

*Alas, Cafe Bernard is so dark and rustic that none of my pictures came out. Sorry, peeps. Better luck next time!