TASTE & TELL: Pierrot takes diners to Paris - via Beacon Hill

By VIRGINIA HAYES
The Patriot Ledger

The French bistro is back in a big way. From Paris to New York, and everywhere in between, chefs, some famous and some not so, are putting aside the over-the-top d�cor, the pretentious service and presentation for the homey comforts of bistro fare.

This is not to say that they are completely abandoning their gastronomic temples, but it's more as though they stepped back for a moment and realized what kind of food they search out themselves after a long evening in the kitchen, then decided to recreate, or reinterpret it themselves.

Ducasse, Robuchon, even Thomas Keller, proprietor of the hottest table in Manhattan, Per Se, have recently opened downscale, down home eateries. Even Mario Batali, known for his loyalty to Italian food, has opened Bistro du Vent in Times Square with a menu so classic that you'd half expect to spy a couple of pampered poodles reposing under neighboring tables.

Add to that list Boston's much beloved Jacky Robert, of the dearly departed Maison Robert. After a stint on the Cape, he has apparently returned to the city with his batteries recharged and his roots showing. When fellow Maison Robert alumnus Pierre Sosnitsky opened Pierrot on the back side of Beacon Hill, Robert signed on as consulting chef, and although he has recently moved on to a new endeavor of his own, he left the kitchen in the hands of a capable chef.

Named for the famed clown, Pierrot is purely Parisian in d�cor. Warm red walls are hung with posters of the restaurant's namesake, crisp white linens cover the closely spaced tables, and there is plenty of lace at the windows. Most everyone who waited on us the day we were there had a French accent; our waitress hailed from Avignon. Service is relaxed. In the true French style, the staff assumes that you are there to enjoy the pleasures of the table and the company of friends, and will not bother you unless you indicate a need for something.

The menu is classic, from the escargots, foie gras, pate and onion soup in the appetizer section, to the tripe, mussels and beef bourguignon entrees and the chocolate mousse and cr�me brulee desserts.

Slices of crusty baguette arrived along with creamy salted butter and proved perfect for slathering with dense, delicious house pate ($6.95), which arrived with its traditional side of cornichons, Dijon mustard and Nicoise olives.

One of the day's specials was crepes stuffed with seafood, topped with a bechamel sauce ($12.95). Tender bay scallops, tiny shrimp and plump mussels were bathed in bechamel, rolled in two large crepes, topped with more bechamel, then run (a minute too long) under the broiler. They were accompanied by ��turned'' carrots and zucchini, and oven-roasted red bliss potatoes, as was my hanger steak with shallot sauce ($12.95).

Referred to as l'onglet in France, this is a cut of steak that is quintessential bistro, but one with which most Americans are not familiar. So named because it is part of the diaphragm muscle that hangs between the loin and the ribs, it's a grainy, chewy, juicy cut that's shaped somewhat like a cruller. It is also known as the butcher's tenderloin, as it is the cut they reputedly saved for themselves.

The beef bourguignon ($12.95) was intensely dark and rich, with large chunks of tender meat, carrot, potato and pearl onions. A reasonably priced wine list offered some nice selections by the glass, and we alternately sampled the muscadet ($6.50), and the cotes du Rhone ($7.25).

Jewel-like fruit tarts ($6.25 a slice) filled the dessert trolley, including pear/almond, apple, and blueberry/strawberry. We chose the blueberry/strawberry with a sweet almond crust, as well as the cr�me brulee with a brown sugar crust ($6.25) and the chocolate mousse ($6.25). All were perfectly executed, dead-on versions that pointed to a well-trained pastry chef.

We lingered, sipping, eating and chatting well into the afternoon, and if it were not for the English conversation flowing around us, it would have been so easy to believe that we were, instead, in some cozy neighborhood hangout on the Left Bank. The next time we're feeling like it's been too long between trips and long for a bit of reminiscing, we know exactly where to go.

PIERROT - 272 Cambridge St. Boston, 617-725-8855. Not handicap accessible. Lunch-Mon.-Fri. 11:30-2:30, Dinner Mon.-Fri. 5:30-10, Saturday-5-10 M/C, Amex, Visa, Disc. Street parking.