Bistro Laurent Needs a Few Finishing Touches

Behind an unassuming façade on a slightly out-of-the-way stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard, resides the new Bistro Laurent. Bright coral red walls and a large front with a giant "YES" painted on it lead visitors into the modest space, still squeaky clean and settling into itself since formally opening its doors just one week ago on Bastille Day, July 14.

Patterned red upholstered benches line the walls, peering over polished blonde wooden tables at simple metal chairs opposite them. A long table with more metal stools runs through the center of the space. The sterility of the straight lines and aluminum lights hanging from the ceiling is balanced by images of French people (owner Laurent Triqueneaux and his family among them) and famous French landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower and the magical Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

In the rear of the room, next to the register and a stack of laminated menus, you fill find a cold case filled with ready-made salads and sandwiches for take-out as well as an assortment of freshly baked goods. These pastries—flaky and light as air, some dusted with almond slivers or powdered sugar (or both), all drenched in heavenly butter—are baked just feet away and are the life force behind the bistro.

Triqueneaux, who also owns Culver City's Café Laurent, is a Normandy native who holds an international law degree and learned to cook in his grandmother's kitchen. He moved his bakery to its current location in the back of Bistro Laurent in February with the intention of building out the restaurant.

The location might seem odd, but for Triqueneaux it was strategic and laced with dreams of late-night traffic running between downtown Culver City and West Hollywood, stopping and knocking on the bakery door for 4 a.m. hot pastries--just like the streets of Paris when the clubs let out.

"But it is just a fantasy," he says. "We will see."

While the order-at-the-counter feel and the décor may be a far cry from Triqueneaux's other restaurant, ("We wanted to make the bistro much more casual," explains Laurent), the menu is strikingly similar and the focus is generally the same: good, authentic, unpretentious, vaguely health-conscious food. The effort is there, but it is French after all.

The breakfast menu is slightly more extensive than that of Café Laurent but has most of the same items at a dollar or so less, and ranges from waffles to classic eggs and bacon to a breakfast quesadilla.

Lunch appears to be the same situation: in some cases, the menu from the Café more accurately describes the meal I was served at the Bistro than the Bistro menu does.

The Veggie sandwich ($6.25), for example, came with several significant ingredients not listed on the menu (caramelized onion and avocado), and yet it matches the description of Le Veggie Club at Café Laurent to a T. The sandwich was--it must be noted--simply fantastic, as savory and satisfying as a vegetable sandwich can be, with a tomato-garlic remoulade that made my heart sing, and the onion and avocado was a pleasant surprise.

This lack of synergy between the menu and the dishes themselves can likely be attributed to first-week kinks yet to be ironed out and cooks who work in both kitchens, but it was a common theme throughout the meal. Where the menu promised toasted pine nuts, I found raw walnuts; tomatoes were discovered where no tomatoes were listed; and though spinach was promised, no spinach appeared.

Not everything on the menu was off-balance, though. The Smoked Salmon and Poached Pear Salad ($5.95) was quite large given the small price--with thick, high-quality smoked salmon wrapped around hunks of lightly poached pear on a bed of greens dressed with a light, mildly tangy mustard vinaigrette. The salmon with pear was a nice execution of harmonious culinary contradictions: soft, salty salmon with crunchy, lightly sweet pear.

The Chicken Curry Salad Sandwich ($6.50) was not quite as pleasing. While the healthful swapping of yogurt for mayonnaise is appreciated, it seemed as though the curry itself was forgotten in the process. Served on very lightly toasted, sliced wheat bread, the chicken salad simply lacked flavor.

Indeed, the best part of the dish was the sweet, crispy cornichon pickles that accompanied the sandwich.

Still, these minor issues are not fatal to the food. What is fatal to the food, I'm afraid, is a poorly trained staff cutting corners.

As the only patrons in the Bistro, the simple request to hold our pastries until we were finished with our sandwiches should have been easy enough to execute. When they were brought out without enough room on the table to set them down, again we asked to hold them.

From the empty dining room to the open kitchen, I overheard the server say he was going to microwave my croissant when I was ready for it, as he undoubtedly already warmed it in the oven.

Unbelieving, I waited to see. When it reappeared, the once full of life, flaky delight was a collapsed hunk of moist and chewy dough. When I asked the server, I got an awkward stammer of a response.

C'est triste.

 Thankfully, Triqueneaux sent us home with some goodies-to-go, so I can assure you the croissants—particularly the whole wheat croissant—are indeed delicious. Just make sure to toast them in the oven.

The menu changes drastically for dinner, offering daily pastas, a large selection of crepes and even Filet Mignon au poivre ($18.50). And what is a French restaurant without wine? Thankfully, a liquor license is on the way: "Next week we will have it," said Triqueneaux, hands clasped and looking skyward. "Please!"

When the wine does arrive, Triqueneaux intends to offer a wine of the week at a self-serve bar based on a good old-fashioned honor system, where patrons mark on their placemat with how many glasses they have had and are thus charged accordingly.

"We trust you!" said Triqueneaux in his charming and witty way.

And we trust you, Triqueneaux, to smooth out any inconsistencies to have Bistro Laurent running smoothly as whipped egg whites in no time.

For now, when we drive by and see the giant "YES" on the window --"It's the answer to everything," the server told us. "Are we open? Yes. Is the food delicious? Yes."--we'll know the answer to our question:

Do you have a bit more polishing to do? It appears so.