by MARK SLUTSKY

When Claude Beausoleil (of Citrus and l’Épicier) opened les Chèvres in 2003, it quickly became one of the city’s most talked-about restaurants, with its whimsical vegetable-based cuisine and superb desserts. Dinner at les Chèvres is definitely an upscale affair, though, and if you wanted to taste the delights being whipped up in chef Stelio Perombelon and pastry chef Patrice Demers’s kitchens, you definitely needed a healthy pocketbook. Which is why le Chou is such a great idea.

Opening up about a year ago, the restaurant, which occupies a narrow space next to its big brother, shares kitchens with les Chèvres but offers a more casual—and less expensive—dining experience.

Le Chou has sort of a nouveau-bistro feel: It’s noisy but cozy, with long booths along each wall. A good dinner here for two can cost under $40 before wine, tax and tip, and that even includes one of the must-have desserts. That price tag is based on the presumption that you’ll be satisfied sharing just one of le Chou’s delicious sweets, and it’d probably be more realistic to assume you and your date would each want one to yourselves.

Les plats salés come at $8 a piece (with a couple of exceptions), and they’re made for sharing. Our party of four ended up sharing eight dishes, tapas-style, which meant that we ordered literally everything on the menu, and then some (the night we visited there were seven plats salés available).

The waiter served them to us in two courses, with the cream of potato and spinach, cod filets and beet salad arriving first. The first (cheaper at $7) was a warm, rich soup in which floated a crostini piled with grated strong cheddar cheese. Though this was not the easiest dish to share (in fact it was pretty difficult—you try splitting a bowl of soup among four people), it was definitely yummy, real comfort food. The cod filets reminded me quite a bit of the fish sticks of my misspent adolescence, long and skinny and golden-brown. Of course, in taste they differed quite a bit from Captain Highliner’s processed mush, fresh and crispy with a tangy citron brûlé in which to dip them. The beet salad was perhaps the humblest-looking dish—in fact it was downright ugly, with a pale Chioggia beet resting on unappetizing-seeming greens. But man, looks can be deceiving, and this was one of the standout dishes of the night. Liberally sprinkled with goat-cheese, feta and a roasted shallot vinaigrette, the salad was truly stunning, like a golden flower unfolding in your mouth, if you’ll pardon the poetics.

Next up were the rest of the savoury dishes. The penne carbonara was as simple as the name suggests, a lightly creamy pasta with bacon, but it was fresh and delicious. One of my favourite dishes was the crêpe au boudin noir, a folded pancake topped with fruit chutney, drizzled with yogurt and filled with blood pudding and fatty lardons. This game sausage with marrow purée and apple rémoulade was interesting but perhaps not quite as flavourful. The sausage itself was a little forgettable.

We skipped the cheeses, but ah, then came the desserts, the unforgettable (and cheap, at $6) plats sucrés. By all means, try the pot de crème au chocolat (which appear on the cover of Patrice Demers’s new cookbook). A jar layered with that sweet cream, caramel, and—crucially—Maldon crystal salt, it’s simple and complex at the same time, and an absolute treat. You’d also be advised to try the panna cotta with tea-stewed prunes and little, madeleine-like financiers. The creaminess of the panna cotta, the flavour-steeped chewy prunes and the spongy financiers make for a delicious trinity. Other desserts vary by the day, but it’s a good bet that they’ll all be worth a try.

TIPS? QUESTIONS? COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF? E-mail eattothebeat@gmail.com

Le Chou
ADDRESS: 1205 Van Horne (at Bloomfield)
PHONE: 270-2468
HOURS: 5:30–11 p.m.
BEST FEATURES: Hard to choose between the delicious, inexpensive “salés” and the brilliantly inventive desserts
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $40–$55 for two people before wine, tax and tip
RATING: *** and a 1/2 out of ****