French Omakase: Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles

 Again today it is Ed (from Yuma) blogging, not Kirk or Cathy. More about his vacation in Paso Robles.

Every evening in Paso we had to decide on dinner. Steve and Helen and Tina and I had rooms in an old-fashioned 1950s style motel only a couple of blocks from the beautiful little park downtown. Where once I had had difficulties finding a good meal in Paso, now there were numerous restaurants serving all kinds of wine friendly cuisine, at a range of different price points, all within easy walking distance of the motel. So every evening we would stroll around, read menus, and discuss the possibilities at great length. We started the process fairly early so no serious danger of anybody actually starving.

On Tuesday evening, we wanted to get a look at the menu at Bistro Laurent, which had been closed Monday. The restaurant sits kitty corner from the northwest point of the park and is located in an old brick building:

On the right side of this picture is the outdoor/indoor patio area, right next to the actual entrance (picture taken later):

We looked at the menus. There were various dishes à la carte, appetizers, salads, entrées, etc. There were also prix fixe dinner options: four courses or five courses; with wines or not. The hostess then explained that we could just allow the chef to decide our dinner selections based on what he wanted to prepare. That sounded way too easy – French bistro Omakase. We sat in the enclosed patio area, and all decided on the chef's four choices with wine.

An amuse bouche, sort of a mini bruschetta, showed up first:

It was okay, certainly, but to my mouth, not especially amusing.

The server then poured us each a small glass of French Chablis:

We all thought it was a fine dry Chardonnay, and we all loved the breads that showed up next. Each of us grabbed half of a slice of the rustic dark olive bread to start:

There was also the equivalent of a small baguette of crusty French bread in the bread basket as well:

The next item to hit our table was the first course, warm lobster salad:

Wow! In the center of the plate stood a mound of chopped mesclun lettuce topped with and surrounded by large chunks of moist warm fresh poached lobster. Numerous chunks – excellent quality. And the whole salad was brought together by the mild creamy white sauce. Three orange slices and green and red flecks for color.

The next thing to arrive at our table was clean stemware for our glasses of La Vieille Ferme, a pleasant blended French red wine from the Rhône Valley:

To our initial surprise, the dish to accompany this red wine was grilled sturgeon, lying on a bed of al dente French lentils in a savory cream sauce:

But combination of wine and ingredients worked. The fish was not overcooked, it's mild fleshy flavor accented by the earthy lentils and both balanced by the light red wine:

After we finished the course, our wine glasses were changed again and a full flavored 2009 Paso Robles syrah from Clavo vineyards was poured to complement the meat course:

Two large pieces of venison, roasted medium rare, sat on top of a thick disk of fried mashed potatoes. Not only did I enjoy the accompanying blueberry sauce; I also savored the sprig of fresh marjoram, taking little bites of the herb occasionally as I chewed the deeply flavored deer meat:

The chef's choice of desserts was accompanied by small glasses of Sauternes, a sweet golden wine made from late harvested white wine grapes affected by pourriture noble, which gives the wine a honeyed richness:

The desert itself was a fresh fig tart topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and surrounded by vanilla and caramel sauces:

The pastry was light and flaky. Figs, vanilla, caramel mingled light sweet flavors. Umm-yoso.

Even though each dinner (with wine) was $69, all four of us thought we received good value. No one left hungry – in fact, we were all stuffed. The wines had been well-chosen and enhanced the foods . The pours were generous for a prix fixe dinner. The service throughout the meal was outstanding without being annoying or intrusive - very friendly, helpful, and professional. The meal was a  culinary highlight of our visit to Paso Robles.

Doing this post reminded me that I had first eaten at the restaurant back in the summer of 2002. It is interesting that a few things have changed for the better over the years, but the chef has stayed true to his basic vision. And his vision looks pretty good to me!

Bistro Laurent, 1202 Pine Street, Paso Robles CA, (805) 226-8191, 11:30 – 2:00 and 5:30 – 10:00 Tues – Sat. Website

Comments

[J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats]

Wow the amuse bouche looked like an ominous sign for the rest of the meal (it looks like plain pico de gallo on a slice of bread) but the rest of the meal looks amazing. And for $69 dollars great value too. Maybe he was trying to trick you into having low expectations and then wowing you :) haha

[caninecologne]

$69 seems pretty fair, especially with the wine pairings. OMG, that lobster salad!!! The blueberry sauce with the venison sounds especially interesting! We liked the downtown area and how everything was walkable; we just didn't stay too long there as it was just a "pitstop" on our way to Cayucos. We plan to explore the area during our next visit.

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Yeh, JS, the amuse was underwhelming though it did have some parmesan -like something I'd get in Yuma. but after that, everything was stellar.

Everyone has their favorites, cc, but I fell in love with Paso when I lived in Monterey. And it kept improving. While I have driven through, I have never stopped in Cayucos. In fact, I had to google it to find where it was. There is so much to explore in that south central coast area.

[Faye]

I can't remember the last time I had sturgeon. That particular dish looks beautiful - the al dente lentils look like plump caviar to me.

[nhbilly]

It sounded ominous at the beginning, but I'm glad it fared better toward the end.

[Ed (from Yuma)]

yeh, billy, I have no idea why the chef would start so mundane, particularly when the bread was being served, but I can't complain much.

I have had sturgeon, both fresh and smoked, at Passionfish in Pacific Grove, Faye, but can't recall other experiences. It is meaty, solid, but not strongly flavored. I wonder if it farmed these days since sturgeon are very hardy fish. My brother catches and releases them in the Columbia River, and he says they are none the worse for the experience.