Wednesday, March 11, 2015

At Pardon My French, now open on Avenue B



Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Getting to take a sneak peek at a restaurant prior to opening is somewhat thrilling: you get to see the conflicts, team-building and hints of what’s to come in terms of food, drinks and patrons.

I witnessed all of that at my visit to Pardon My French, which opened Monday at 103 Avenue B near East Seventh Street.

Mario Carta was the owner of the restaurant formerly occupying that space, the 16-year-old bistro Casimir. Along with former waiter, now co-owner Antonin Brune, the pair has teamed with mixologist Simon Sebbah to create a warm French-inspired local spot.








[Co-owner Mario Carta]

When I visited last Friday, the chef was Yllan Laloum. However, on Monday, restaurant reps told me that “PMF has decided to go in a different direction with the chef. The new chef is Guilherme Barreto and he has much more experience in the New York culinary scene.”


[Co-owner Antonin Brune with former chef Yllan Laloum]

Meanwhile, why the name — Pardon My French?

Brune said that he and Carta were tossing around names … when it came to Carta in a “lightbulb moment.” They are also fine with people saying PMF instead, and indeed, the website is listed under that as well.

The menu is not 100 percent French — it’s a mix of Mediterranean tapas and French-inflected fusion cuisine. I was shown duck tournedos with rutabaga confit and watercress, and stuffed mushrooms with quail eggs, goat cheese, mashed potatoes and microgreens.



I asked the owners about the bottomless brunch (PMF has one featuring mimosa and Bloody Marys for $25), the often-dreaded-by-neighbors weekend ritual. Is PMF trying to appeal to locals or the woo crowd? Both Carta and Brune spoke about how they embrace the neighborhood, how they wanted to stay here, but refresh the space. Carta was sad to close Casimir, but said it was time to try a new concept, a new menu, and bring people back to the spot.

He felt that people had forgotten about Casimir, and he hopes that the new spot will be ideal for family meals, brunches, a post-work drink and romantic dinners.

I also asked about the ADA lawsuit, the much-discussed one that neighboring bar Manitoba’s crowd-funded to pay. (The same man sued both Manitoba's and Casimir as well as a reported 25 other businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act.)

Carta shrugged his shoulders and said “we paid it of course, what else could we do?” There are plans in the works to make the space ADA-compliant, with a ramp and accessible spaces for patrons in wheelchairs.

As for the food, the kitchen plans to stay open until 11 p.m. during the week, midnite or 12:30 on the weekends; the bar until 2 a.m. weeknights, 4 a.m. on weekends.

You can find the PMF menus here.


[East Village resident Linn Tonstad was a guest at the Friends and Family Night last Friday]



19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The menu listing link does work, and the only web listing for PMF is one that closed in Minnesota. That's a bit of a trek from the East Village.

EV Grieve said...

Thanks 8:49!

Fixed the link...

Anonymous said...

Good luck PMF!

Anonymous said...

WNE (Worst. Name. Ever.)

Anonymous said...

Also, I think the name is fun, who cares.

Anonymous said...

I think the name is cute, it's different. Let's all be positive and hope they will be a great addition to our neighborhood. :)

Anonymous said...

I actually really enjoyed the brunch they did at Casimir. The waiters were always super friendly, and I appreciated that they never rushed us in and out like a lot of other places in the neighborhood with ridiculous "time limits" on the tables. Garden is pretty too!

Anonymous said...

I wish they had taken this opportunity to add some vegetarian/vegan options to this menu - in this day and age at least have some dishes...

Anonymous said...

bring back Hotel Galvez


Anonymous said...

Agreed on the lack of vegetarian options. That's ok, I'll take my business elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Come on. Enough of your complaining. If it wasn't for the lack of vegetarian options, it would be something else. What would a French themed restaurant be without meat? The place just opened. Give it a chance and stop your whining. If you want to eat like a rabbit, hop over to another restaurant, or hop to the market and cook your own damn vegetables.

Anonymous said...

Every French restaurant I have ever eaten in has been happy to prepare a special vegetaran dish, and if their chef is any good they can be very creative in the presentation, and will have the meat eaters wishing they had ordered your meal instead.

Anonymous said...

They seem like nice people...but agreed about the lack of vegetarian/vegan options.

- East Villager

Anonymous said...

March 11, 2015 at 7:47 PM You're off the mark and way defensive for some reason..It wouldn't be "something else" and no one said not to have meat. It's not "whining" to suggest they have a civilized option or two for non-meat eating customers (of which there are many with the numbers growing every day) on the menu.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Casimir even had cous cous and pasta entrees that were vegetarian and really good... Had been going there since they first opened..

Anonymous said...

Good luck PMF!

Anonymous said...

If it continues to be so dark I can't see my dining partner or the menu, I will never go back. Food and service was up and down but the brightness level is absurdly dark.

Anonymous said...

they lost me at "mixologist "

this opens and Le Jardin Bistro closed; sounds about right considering the nature of the Nouveau East Village

as for lack of vegetarian restaurants or menus, here's quoting the outspoken Bourdain:

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.

Oh, I'll accomodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.”


Anonymous said...

The commentator above is very ignorant. You fool. Have you ever stopped to consider why people decide to go vegetarian/vegan? If you want to live the rest of your life feasting on dead animal flesh and creating unnecessary health problems developed from diet, DO YOU. But don't shit on another's lifestyle choices just because it doesn't align with yours. Educate yourself.