Petit Trois
Baguette with Brittany Butter
Gougere
Pork Terrine in Aspic
Green Bean Salad with Horseradish and Plum
Salmon Rillette
Omelette with Boursin Cheese
Croque Monsieur
Chicken Leg with Butter Brioche Salad
Steak Tartare with Crispy Shallots
Napoleon with Tahitian Vanilla Cream
Espresso on ice, Water
Filling the Tasty Thai space next to white hot Trois Mec, Petit Trois was a logical target for Friday lunch prior to dinner at its upscale sibling and although many have slighted the small space for cramped seating, quick turnover, and high prices one would be hard pressed to name a more impressive French Bistro experience in Southern California…or for that matter, in the United States as a whole. Small and stylized with unforgiving bar-stools set beside marble countertops and a small kitchen where a team of seven never stops moving, the menu at Petit Trois is well-culled to be certain and dining as a trio the only real question was on which items to take a pass, the eventual order entailing all but steak frites, escargot, cheese, and chocolate cake. Treated to superlative service, including substantial interaction with the kitchen staff as they worked, it was with a textbook baguette paired to creamy French butter that our meal began and with both items replenished twice at no extra charge as the meal progressed it was almost fortuitous that the menu items themselves trended somewhat small, the jumbo gougere a lone exception with a cavernous core aromatic in cheese beneath the golden, crisp shell. Progressing next appetizers, a salad of snappy green beans spiced in horseradish cream with levity lent by sweet stonefruit proved unexpectedly excellent while the lone item of the meal that did not wow was a pork terrine too rich with aspic; the spice profile and parts strewn with pork admittedly quite delicious – just too few and far between, a situation entirely the opposite in a substantial plate of smoky salmon served with toasty slices of the aforementioned baguette. Onward to entrees it was an airy omelette stuffed with herbaceous cheese that round three began and although pleasant enough it simply could not stand up to the show-stopping flavors of the oft-raved Croque, an $18 pricetag for a sandwich no bigger than a deck of cards admittedly quite shocking, though the quality of gruyere, béchamel, and ham on pan griddled bread far surpassed any other version tasted to date. At this point asked if about dessert we informed our server that he had forgotten the chicken and with apologies flowing for omitting this from our order (plus a plate of tender steak tartare on the house) it was only after a short delay that the tour de force arrived – a confit, then flash-fried leg served beneath a light salad topped with brown butter soaked brioche almost impossibly crisp on the surface while melt-in-the-mouth flesh teaming with rosemary and chives awaited within. Unable to resist dessert, though all were at this point quite full, it was with great intrigue that we watched the mille-feuille’s a la minute preparation and with top buleed while rough edges were sawed off the small rectangle was absolute reference standard, the sort of thing people line up for in Paris and something everyone lining up outside 718 North Highland Avenue should order without a second thought.
RECOMMENDED: Chicken Leg, Gougere, Mille Feuille (Napoleon,) Salmon Rillette
AVOID: Pork Terrine.
TIP: With tax and 18% gratuity included in the tab and a “credit card only” policy I was personally quite put off by the valet out front. While I’m uncertain if he was employed by the restaurant or by an independent contractor the fact that he insisted I pay twice, at lunch and dinner ($4 and $7, respective) despite the fact that I arrived before he was on duty and left my car in the lot while I wandered the surrounding area between meals is absolutely ridiculous, particularly as he never once even touched my car. My advice? Park on Waring just east of N. Las Palmas and walk a few blocks for free.
http://petittrois.com/
