Upon entering the restaurant you are instantly hit by the homey atmosphere, candles are everywhere which give the space a nice warm glow, benches line the walls and use strategically placed pillows to separate diners who are seated next to one another but would prefer to pretend that their neighbor doesn't exist. However, in addition to homey this place can also be described as trying too hard to be hip, this is exemplified by the a little too loud techo music that was playing all night long. It just does not go with the atmosphere.
Though they promised a ten minute wait we had barely had time to peruse the cocktail menu before we were wisked away to our seats. We were seated at one of the bench seats, thankfully we only had neighbors on one side. Had we been surrounded I think our table would have been way too crowded. The cocktail menu was filled with some interesting concoctions including an overly bitter Lemon Fizz (Lemonchello, champagne and lemon juice) and a passion fruit cocktail (passion fruit puree, Bacardi rum and fresh raspberries) that was overly sweet. However, since it took them so long to get us our original cocktails they were free. The wine list is extensive and probably perfect for business people on expense accounts (there were at least four such parties while we were there) because all of the wines were very expensive (there was a bottle of champagne that I know goes for seventy dollars being sold for 100).
The menu was generally uninspired (a thought I had while pondering the menu online) and we quickly settled on the safe choices for appetizers and entrees. We started our meal by splitting the gnocci with parmesan crema, basil, pepper and tomato coulis; and some simple crab ravioli with a thyme tomato broth.
The gnocci were delicious, the sauce was light but full of flavor and the pepper gave it a nice finishing kick. The tomato was subtle and added just a hint of tartness to the sweet creaminess of the parmesan crema and the gnocci melted in your mouth. The ravioli were a little disappointing however, while the filling for the ravioli was delicious subtle crab flavor mixed with ricotta and parsley to give it a dense salty but not overly fishy flavor, coupled with the absolutely divine broth, both the thyme and the tomato were subtle and beautifully combined. The killer for this dish was the undercooked and chewy pasta; while the middle bite of each ravioli was delicious each end was filled with chewy pasta.
For our Entrees I convinced my husband to go for the Pan Roasted Halibut with Lemon, White Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto, Chive-Butter Broth, and I had my old standby... the steak or more specifically; Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Horseradish Whipped Potatoes, Garlic Toast & Asparagus.
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the Halibut but the presentation of the steak was so wonderful that at the time I didn't think of it. Yes that is a potato chip and yes it does have a piece of parsley baked in-between the two layers. Overall, I am sad I did not get a picture of the Halibut because it was the overall winner of the evening. It was meaty and lightly seasoned with a balance of chives, salt, and I think a little paprika. Each bite was flavorful right down to the last, the risotto was more rice with shrimp and asparagus (lacking that creamy thickness that you expect from risotto) but while it was not what was expected it was still very tasty and a nice counterpoint to the fish. The shrimp were subtle and did not overpower the dish at all.
The steak on the other hand was not as good. I need to remember not to order steak unless I am at a "real" French restaurant like La Voile on Newbury or Aquitaine. The steak was overly charred and had a strong smoky flavor, these are not bad qualities but when coupled with a weak sauce the steak just did not live up to my expectations, which was unfortunate particularly when you consider its side dish companions. The horseradish whipped potatoes were actually quite good and very refreshing, garlic whipped potatoes always seem very heavy to me and tend to overpower whatever is on the plate, however, these were light and tasty with just a hint of horseradish and not overpowering at all. While many might say that asparagus is nothing special as a side dish I say asparagus is easy to mess up, this was not the case. They were perfectly grilled with some olive oil and salt.
To finish off the evening we opted for the warm chocolate torte, with Vanilla ice cream and sauce Anglaise. Again a little background, I have tried a million chocolate desserts in this city and the best is still the molten chocolate cake that Lumiere used to make (I couldn't eat chocolate for a week because nothing compared). While this was advertised as a torte it was really a very runny molten chocolate cake, and while I did not mind this, it was definitely not what I was expecting. The cake was acceptable, not too dry not too moist, but you could taste that they had not used top tier chocolate in the filling with marred the overall experience. The ice cream was nothing to write home about and the cream Anglaise was missing.
Overall we had a good experience though for the price the food wasn't really memorable enough for us to go back any time soon. I give Mistral a C+ Drinks were so-so, price was too high, food was uninteresting but tasty, and the atmosphere clashed with itself.
A word to the wise, if you do eat here, don't order a cocktail that is off menu unless you are ready to pay for it, I had 2 Kir Royales and they were 20$ each.
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