la.foodblogging

I was treated to an excellent meal last night at Brentwood’s Chez Mimi. Tucked into a small front on 26th Street near San Vicente, Chez Mimi greeted us with a small courtyard dining area and a main dining room inside. There was a small fountain and lights strung among the vines to set a relaxing atmosphere.

We sat promptly and began to look over the menu. Our waiter, a soft spoken Frenchman, let us in on the specials: sandabs, halibut, frog legs and a duck foie gras. We ordered our glasses of wine (reasonably priced) and went to work on the menu. The only problem we had was that there were too many great looking choices.

Let us start with the starters. There were five different soups to choose from, and being a soup fiend, I zeroed in on them. Three hot soups: a tomato bisque, carrot soup and a French onion, plus two chilled soups: a potato leek vichyssoise and a chilled cucumber. I opted for the carrot soup, my fiancee for the vichyssoise and the others at the table chose the cesar salad.

Although I love soup, it definitely wasn’t the first menu item to catch my eye. That honor fell to the duck. I love duck, and I love ordering it in restaurants because it is something that I never cook at home. I am no duck expert, but I know when I have had good duck and when I have had bad duck. This dish was a duck breast, served with a black cherry sauce and wild rice and carrots on the side. The rest of the table had the Sanddabs, the Steak Frites and the Bouillabaisse.

While ordering, our waiter made gentle recommendations, which I always appreciate. After he took everything down, our soups and salads came out promptly. My carrot soup was good, a bit thicker and earthier than I normally like, but a nice flavor none the less. The potato leek vichyssoise was excellent and after sampling a spoonful of the chilled creamy soup, I wished I had ordered a whole bowl. The cesar salads were bursting with flavor, accompanied by light flaky croutons and lemon wedges.

There was a bit of a pause between the first course and our main dishes. The Bouillabaisse arrived in a steaming bowl of seafood goodness, the not too salty broth was packed with lobster, shrimp, clams and whitefish — what we believed to be halibut. The steak came out smothered in a pepper cream sauce, with a side of thin crispy French Fries. Unfortunately, the steak was cooked a bit over the medium rare that was ordered, but not enough to warrant alerting the waiter. The Sanddabs were lighlty breaded and topped with a lemon garlic sauce. My duck was served with a beautiful presentation. The breast had been sliced (after cooking) and placed on a bed of mild black cherry sauce. There was a large portion of wild rice and a small side of garlicky carrots.

I could see that the duck was on the rare side, which I prefer to an over cooked piece of fowl. The only problem I had with the duck was that some parts of the fat had not been cooked quite enough and I couldn’t chew them. I like duck fat to be slightly crispy on the outside, but soft enough to have the unique flavor it carries between the skin and the breast. The meat was so tender though, that I didn’t dwell on the fat. The juice from the cherries had a very mild flavor, not at all sweet, and it complemented the duck very well.

Another hit from my dish was the wild rice. Normally I don’t get too excited about wild rice, maybe I had too much during my parent’s hippie days growing up, but this rice was cooked in a flavorful stock. I couldn’t finish it all, my fiancee was glad to assist.

Everyone enjoyed their plates and there was very little left by the time we threw in the towel. As a result, no one had room to try the amazing sounding desserts. We did promise our waiter that we would come back another time and have dessert, to which he replied immediately, “next time you will order them as an appetizer…”

Final verdict? I really enjoyed my dinner at Chez Mimi. It is certainly not cheap, and there is probably a surcharge on the zip code alone, but the meals are innovative with unique flavors, so it is worth it to drive over. I appreciated the broad range of the menu, there were lamb, seafood, steak and fowl dishes along with the extensive soup list and a number of other appetizers. French food often depends on the sauces and Chez Mimi does well to pair their sauces with high quality meats.

Chez Mimi
246 26th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90402
310-393-0558

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.