When Michael and Tom Lachowicz rolled the dice to purchase Wheeling’s French-classicLe Francais last year, the big loser, at least in the short-term, was DuPage County.
The demands of running one of the Chicago area’s most famous restaurants forced the brothers to close Cochon Sauvage, their cute Wheaton bistro, as well as Les Deux Gros, their fine-dining property in Glen Ellyn.
Happily, both restaurants have been resurrected by new owners. Debbie Williams, former general manager at Bistro Banlieu, has turned Cochon Sauvage into Adelle’s, offering contemporary twists on American comfort food, and Louisa Lima and Jonji Gaffud, formerly chefs at 120 Ocean Place, are keeping the fine-dining French flame alive in Glen Ellyn with Les Deux Autres.
Adelle’s
As cute as the original Cochon Sauvage was, wife-husband team Debbie and Tom Williams have gone a step better, replacing the bistro decor with a contemporary mix of gray walls, copper accents and pretty, Deco-ish mosaic ceiling lights. Add a gorgeous outdoor patio with ivy-covered walls and copper torches, and you have an utterly charming dining environment–with very modest prices.
Chef John Anderson abets this cozy atmosphere with an updated comfort-food menu. Entrees include such standbys as pot pie, pot roast and meatloaf, though Anderson’s meatloaf is a far cry from grandma’s, studded with roasted peppers and shiitake mushrooms. Speaking of far cries, you should have heard the yelp from my spice-averse wife after she took a stab at the incendiary chipotle-laced ketchup served (in a side cup) with the meatloaf.
Other nicely tweaked entrees include Lake Superior whitefish in a crispy panko and cornmeal blanket, with sauteed spinach and a light lemon-butter sauce; super-moist chicken breast stuffed with smoked-gouda and farmers cheese, along with pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes; and fork-tender beef tenderloin with fingerling potatoes and red-wine sauce. Any of these would make a fine Sunday supper.
The chef gets a bit fancier with almond-crusted grouper, a delicious fish served with a chunky mango chutney, and Hawaiian opakapaka over coconut-jasmine rice and a red-pepper coulis. The cider-brined pork chop is a nice piece of meat, though the accompanying cheese grits were a congealed, gummy disaster, and the molasses-ginger glaze had been over-reduced to the consistency of tar.
First-course highlights included steamed mussels in a briny tomato broth that put everyone in my party in a bread-dipping frenzy; crispy fried oysters in a gently spicy tomato-caper remoulade; and a fine crabcake bolstered by an aromatic horseradish sauce and an orange-scented carrot-jicama slaw. The morel crostini was a slight disappointment–an abundance of garlic overwhelmed the mushrooms–and the andouille sausage came with the same gummy cheese grits as the pork.
Desserts are appropriately homespun. The seasonal crisp, with a crunchy almond-oatmeal topping, is a fine dessert that should only get better in the next few weeks, as the local fruits hit their peak; and the chocolate-cherry bread pudding is a sturdy affair with an abundance of sun-dried cherries and chocolate chunks.
The wine list is brief but nicely varied, and the Williamses have clearly made affordability a high priority.
Service was excellent, and deservedly so, as my waiter the first night just happened to be the head waiter at the bachelor party I threw four years ago (my idea of a bachelor party is pretty tame), and of course he recognized me. I knew I should have booked the gentleman’s club . . .
Les Deux Autres
Chefs Lima and Gaffud essentially got a brand-new restaurant when they purchased Les Deux Gros from the Lachowiczes; the brothers had spent a small fortune rehabbing the place a year earlier. So very little has changed except the name, and even that–Les Deux Autres, or “the other two”–is a tip o’ the cap to the past.
You would expect that service would be the most obvious difference; few restaurants, let alone a new one, could match the standard set by Les Deux Gros’ veteran crew. But even allowing for a dropoff on that score, Les Deux Autres’ service is not up to the level for which it’s aiming. When a waiter interrupts his menu recitation because another table is beckoning for more water, or when wine refills lag because the person who handles this task is also the person toting food from the kitchen to the table, it’s clear that there aren’t enough bodies on the floor.
On the plus side, when we were debating between two appetizers on one visit, our waiter alertly pointed out that the amuse would duplicate one appetizer, so we should choose the other. I wish more servers would alert customers to situations like that.
As good as the menu is, “Save room for dessert” should be the phrase on every diner’s lips. The sweets, which are Lima’s province, are sensational. That’s particularly true with the light and airy souffles; a recent version of strawberry and white-peach, inlaid with white-chocolate creme anglaise, was an absolute thing of beauty, with wonderful texture and beautifully balanced fruit flavors. I’d go back for that in a minute.
Another hit is the apple puff, soft pastry nestling Calvados-laced apples; the dense chocolate pate will satisfy anyone’s chocolate craving, as, I suspect, will the liquid-center chocolate cake–though our sample, alas, had more a lumpy chocolate center than a liquid one.
Gaffud handles the courses leading to dessert, and there are some star turns here as well. There’s a wonderful crabcake, a collection of lump crabmeat bound with scallop mousse, served over a thin layer of polenta mixed with brie cheese. A tall cylinder of tuna tartare, dressed with a light soy vinaigrette, arrives surrounded with thin slices of barely seared, sesame-coated tuna loin, offering dual textures. A scrawny, overcooked piece of foie gras was upstaged by the delicious mushroom flan beneath it, though I didn’t think the tomato coulis on the plate was an especially good match.
Among entrees, the duo of quail was a bit of a surprise, as I hadn’t ordered it. The waiter offered to replace the dish with my original selection, but as the other entrees were already on the table, I decided it was Meant to Be and dug in. It wasn’t a bad dish, though one quail seemed a bit overcooked and the risotto underneath was too gummy. I had better luck on a followup visit, when a duo of lamb loin and two double chops were delicious, matched to rich potatoes Dauphinoise. Gamy venison is a good choice, its strong flavor countered by a sweet-potato gratin, and what the bouillabaisse lacks in strict authenticity it makes up with excellent shellfish, roasted individually and united in a light white-wine broth.
The wine list has a good number of recognizable names, but not the same names you find all over town. Prices are reasonable, and a handful of half-bottles and 20 by-the-glass pours are offered as well.
One last thing to address: Demystify the bill, please. When my check arrived, between the waiter’s shorthand and the very faint ink on the printed receipt it was almost impossible to tell what I was being charged–except, of course, for the final figure. A little legibility would be appreciated.
Adelle’s
(star)(star)
1060 College Ave., Wheaton
630-784-8015
Open: Dinner Tue.-Sun.
Entree prices: $12-$28
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Noise: Conversation-friendly
Other: Wheelchair accessible; smoking on patio only
Les Deux Autres
(star)
462 Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn
630-469-4002
Open: Dinner Tue.-Sun.
Entree prices: $21-$27
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Noise: Hushed
Other: Wheelchair accessible; no smoking
OUTSTANDING (star)(star)(star)(star)
EXCELLENT (star)(star)(star)
VERY GOOD (star)(star)
GOOD (star)
Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
