Review: Pinot Bistro

Marc and I had the chance to go out for dinner a few times recently, and one of those times, we decided to go to Pinot Bistro, a restaurant we hadn't been to in almost ten years. It's a fine dining restaurant in Studio City, and we remembered the food being quite excellent (and expensive).

Since we went on Christmas Eve, there was a limited prix fixe menu, and although many things sounded good, nothing was really spectacular. Admittedly, I got a little adventurous with my ordering, selecting the things I would never make at home, like beef carpaccio and duck breast. Unfortunately, the carpaccio was took thick, and the duck breast too rare (and hence chewy). I probably would have enjoyed my meal more if I'd stuck to more ordinary dishes like mushroom risotto and halibut, but since I could cook those myself (if I had the time to cook), it seemed like wasting the special occasion. But even the bread was bland. (And I'll never understand why restaurants serve their bread with cold, unspreadable butter.)

The service was impeccable, though, which made the meal a lot more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.

It's not that the food was bad, but it certainly wasn't worth the money. We paid $45 per person for a four-course meal, which isn't outrageous but definitely not cheap. So needless to say, we won't be going back to Pinot Bistro for another ten years.

But we did find another restaurant that we're going to visit regularly - and I'll tell you about that one soon.