Happy hump day everyone! So this past Sunday was my birthday. Knowing we had some hectic weeks and weekends coming up I told Chris I wanted to keep things low key and just have plenty of champs throughout the weekend (fair enough right?). Typically we go out for a birthday dinner but I really wanted to give new downtown restaurant Chez du Bon a try for brunch. It sounded like the perfect way to start a birthday, fancy fine dining in an adorable setting plus champs, umm DUH no brainer!And perfect was an understatement! The interior is adorable! So many textures and just the right additions of unique color it totally takes you to another place. Adorably sweet owner and leader behind the Fab Dining Group of restaurants, Yavonne Sarber, showed us to our table. She also complimented my outfit so in my crazy head I took that to mean she wouldn't mind if I snapped photos of her fabulous Paris meets NOLA restaurant like an overzealous tourist. On top of that their food was fabulous!
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| Part of the downstairs dining area |
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| Upstairs |
To start I had the French 75 cocktail (a helpful suggestion from fellow Columbus blogger, Cheryl at Drink Up Columbus) which is gin, orange liqueur, lemon juice and champs. This was super yummy, light and refreshing, I definitely think I'll be recreating it at home. Chris got their Mimosa and was pleased.
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| In the forefront: French 75, behind: Mimosa |
Then we ordered our entrees. I got the Croque Madam: house cured country ham, gruyere cheese and toasted brioche topped with a soft fried egg served with a dijon mustard mornay on the side and fries. This was amazing and I'm not even a big ham fan! But it was the perfect balance of flavors, the ham was thinly sliced and tender, the dijon mornay on the side was just the right touch of tang. The fries were delicious and well seasoned.
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| Croque Madam |
Chris got the Fried Chicken and Crepes, their version of Chicken and Waffles. Since I'm sure half the world knows by now that Chris' life was changed by C&W when we were in North Carolina he's on a one man mission to try every version of them in Columbus. The crispy fried chicken was served on top of light and delicate crepes, drizzled with a sriracha maple glaze with a side of sauteed greens. Chris was pretty hooked but luckily I got my fork in for at least a bite! The combination of sweet and savory with that hint of sriracha spice was fantastic!
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| Fried Chicken and Crepes |
For dessert we got the beignets. The beignets themselves were good, but when you've had them from Cafe du Monde in NOLA its a tough comparison. Anyways, what took these from good to OUTFRICKENSTANDING was the pecan sauce they served with it. Holy cow it was delicious times a thousand, buttery and gooey and just OMGYUMM, my mouth waters just thinking about it!
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| Beignets |
We really enjoyed our meal, the service was friendly and attentive plus like I previously mentioned the atmosphere really takes you outside of the unassuming Fifth Third Building downtown. The other restaurants in the Fab Dining Group's collection are deNovo and Manifesto plus a sports bar concept: Oliver's coming soon.
Manifesto is another downtown favorite of mine, after a walk around the block after brunch (we had to walk it off since we were stuffed!) Chris and I peeked into Manifesto since he's never been there. I've told him each time I've gone that he'd like it, he took one look and said "This looks awesome, we have to come back!" So I'm sure there's another LFM in the future. Overall I'd definitely recommend Chez du Bon for a special occasion or if you're feeling the need for some luxury in your life!
As promised, the Lightened Orange Chicken recipe is next plus some shoes! Stay tuned!
Cheers!
Steph
Hi Steph,
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