Gold Dig #4

Petit Trois is a French bistro by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. It is a regular on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. Jon and Vinny have a handful of restaurants all within about a 3-mile radius in the Fairfax area. In addition to Petit Trois, there is Animal, Son of a Gun, Jon & Vinny’s, and Trois Mec. Both Petit Trois and Trois Mec are partnerships between Jon and Vinny and chef Ludo Lefebvre, but Petit Trois is the more casual (and affordable!) version, so that’s where we went. You sit at the bar sipping your wine and watching the magic of your food being made. Not only does it make you feel like you’re in Paris, but it also gives you order envy as you see the dishes of your fellow diners being prepared as well. Ah, it’s my dream to order one of everything on the menu whenever I go to a restaurant…

The Dish

For the time being, however, I’m forced to make a few selections. I’d been told that the burger and the omelette were must-try items. I have to admit that this went very much against my natural inclinations, which tend to be toward the more exotic items on the menu. But I suspended my skepticism, and I was more than pleasantly surprised!

Omelette

I try to avoid ordering eggs when I go out to eat. Not only is an egg one of the cheapest ingredients, but in my mind it also tends to be pretty quick and simple to cook. So the mark-up on an egg dish is probably the highest of any food on the menu – the financially practical (um cheapskate) side of me objects to this. But I had heard Chef Ludo in an interview describe how he makes this omelette – geez it felt like he could have been talking about making love (maybe it’s just the French accent). Then I heard people in the food world rave about eating his omelette. And I have to admit… it was kind of a life-changing omelette. It’s pretty much just eggs and Boursin cheese. But it’s so creamy that you don’t know where the egg ends and the cheese begins. I have those ingredients in my fridge. Chef Ludo has shared the recipe publicly. In theory I could make this omelette at home. I’m just afraid there’s no way it could be as good. So yeah… life-changing.

Big Mec

They call their double cheeseburger the Big Mec. Other than the clever play on words, there’s nothing cute about this burger. It is a hefty helping of burger and cheese on a brioche bun. See that ooze running onto the plate? That’s a foie gras-infused red wine bordelaise sauce. There’s not much more I can add. It tastes as good as it sounds.

Apple Tart

This tart was in the cake dome on the counter right in front of us. So yeah, we had to get it. It was light and moist, with a lovely cream that had just the right amount of sweetness. It was a really nice way to finish off our Petit Trois experience. Though I hear that as far as desserts go, the Napoleon is the thing to get. Next time!