Ville Sainte Bistro
1035 Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, Mount Pleasant
This French restaurant opened a few years ago in a Mount Pleasant strip center on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. It’s led by chef Carole Robert, who previously operated Annie’s Bistro in Mount Pleasant for five years.
Patrons can peruse two paper menus: one for wine by the glass, the other for food. This second page, also listed online, offers a Lowcountry look into French cuisine.
Tarvin Seafood shrimp Provençal. French onion soup. Seared duck and lamb chops. Frog legs sautéed in wine, butter, garlic and lemon.
There are specials, too, at the restaurant sharing an address with a sushi spot, pizza place and used sports gear shop. Duck and chicken pâté — the latter from Storey Farms — were served side by side with blinis on a recent Tuesday.
Robert, who owns the restaurant with her husband Mark Manly, grew up in Paris but spent weekends on a family farm outside of the city. She cooked farther north before coming to Charleston — first in Middleburg, Va., and later in Bethesda, Md. Anne’s Bistro Francais, the name of her restaurants in both locations, was given that title in honor of her late mother.
A 2010 story by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema touted Anne’s white bean soup, “which picks up flavor from ham, herbs and a chicken broth that Carole Robert makes herself.”
She crafts all the dishes to order at Ville Sainte Bistro, too. And while it might not have the flash and flair of other French restaurants in Charleston, it’s certainly worth a visit.
If you’re like the couple next to me the other night, it might become your new regular spot.
The XO Lobster served at XO Brasserie in Charleston.
XO Brasserie
1090 Morrison Drive, downtown Charleston
This article was originally published by a www.postandcourier.com . Read the Original article here. .