🚀 go-pugleaf

Dave Gomberg wrote:
> 
> Prefatory remarks:  I have no relationship to the restaurant discussed
> below, except as a customer.  As a matter of calibration, you should
> know that the only restaurants in Laurel or Burtonsville that my wife
> and I have been willing to return to are Pasta Plus, Chapala,
> Old Hickory Grill and Pepinos.

So tell me more about Chapala, Old Hickory Grill, and Pepinos!  You hit
the jackpot with Cafe de Paris.

> Finally, we have another place to dine in Laurel (there are plenty
> of places to eat around here, but precious few in which to dine).

Indeed.  I was lucky enough to read this yesterday morning, and we
decided to try it on our way back from a matinee in DC.  And thanks, we
are in the process of telling all our friends that we have to help keep
this place open.  We'll try lunch there next week.

> Cafe de Paris opened in mid-July and we've been there twice.  It is
> located in the Laurel Lakes shopping center on Route 1, but it
> is around the back of the complex next to the movie theaters.
> Which is to say you won't find it by accident.

Yes, we would never have found it but for this posting.
 
> Let me get the major criticism out of the way first.  Service here
> is not going to win any awards for a while at least.  The staff is
> pretty green, but they are getting better.  (The owner, who formerly
> was, among other places, manager at Citronelle, has been
> forced to train the staff because he hasn't been able to get really
> experienced help to come to Laurel.)

We found the service wasn't bad; not as good as you'd expect in a French
restaurant, but far better than the dopey teenagers you usually get in
the rest of Laurel, at T.G.I.Friday's, Chili's, etc., where the
management hasn't trained 'em to do anything but say brightly, "HI!  I'm
Treena and I'll be your waitress today!" and to repeat like a mantra,
"everything OK here?" but not take any action if it isn't.
 
We had the vichysoisse, which was terrific, and the pate du jour, which
was very good, to start with.  The pate was served with a good-sized
pile of mesclun, and a basket of true French bread (bet it's from the
boulangerie in Savage Mill--which is worth a trip in itself, BTW).  My
husband had the halibut, very nicely and simply done in a beurre blanc,
accompanied by rice cooked in broth, and julienne vegetables.  The same
vegetables came with my Pork Medaillons, two good-sized slices, as
tender as any filet mignon I've ever had, nicely seared in a light brown
sauce w/black pepper.  The only jarring note came from the purportedly
garlic mashed potatoes.  They tasted instant.  I found this hard to
believe, but my husband and I both tasted them and agreed they were not
what we expected.  Everything else, however, was just great, so we'll
overlook it this one time and go back for more.  

> There is a wine list with about two dozen choices (didn't count 'em).
> There are several reds and whites that are quite decent for $12-19
> with about an equal number for more.  As restaurant prices for
> wine go, the prices are more than fair.  Of course, you can get
> coffee, expresso, etc., and there is a bar if you want cocktails,
> appertifs, etc.
> 
> Dinner is served from 5:30-10:00 Sunday through Thursday, and
> 5:00-11:00 Friday and Saturday (although Sunday evenings may
> go away if business doesn't improve).  Cafe de Paris also serves
> lunch from 11:30-2:30 daily. Lunch is a la carte with appetizers
> from $3.50-4.50 and main courses from $6.95-8.50 and desserts
> at $4.50. (We haven't done lunch yet.)

We'll try it next week & post.
 
> OK, that is it.  You folks who have been hoping for another
> decent place to eat in Laurel/Burtonsville and other nearby
> neighborhoods need to get off your summer doldrums and support
> this place so that it succeeds.  It would be a crying shame to
> lose it.
> 
> Dave Gomberg

Agreed.  Come one, come all, in the Greater Laurel Area.

---------------------------------------
Mary "There is no St. Beth" Elizabeth  |
---------------------------------------