Just say oui to wine
By Jacqueline Demers
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Arts and Culture
Walking up to the little blue awning, concrete steps and slightly overgrown garden, Bodega seems rather unassuming. Walk inside on a typical weekday and you'll soon discover that this tiny eatery in Baldwin Village is far from modest.
The first clue is the clientele. I am definitely the only person here not on a business lunch and surely the only patron dining without a Blackberry displayed prominently beside my dinner plate. Well, c'est la vie! Bodega's website promises a "meal that is luxurious and classically French," and today, I'll be the judge of that!
I take a gander at the wine list and select a fine glass of pinot grigio, which arrives promptly and properly chilled. I expected it to be served on a silver platter or at least in a diamond studded glass for $10.50, but hey, this is fine French dining.
Sipping my wine very, very slowly, I take a peek at the menu. Some fine French staples like Duck Confit and and Bouillabaisse. When the server returns I select the shrimp and scallop ravioli in a light curry sauce and reach for my wine when to my horror I realize le vin has in fact run dry. "Anozer glass?" proposes the accented server. Mais oui!
The food arrives quickly and so does the second round of pinot. The "ravioli" is really about four medium size shrimps encased in pasta resembling Chinese dumplings, minus the usual dumpling filling and the fact that dumplings are usually around a dollar apiece. The scallops are tender and the curry sauce is just the right amount of spice.
Though it is not a particularly large portion, I find myself rather full, rather quickly. Aha! This is how French people stay so thin while supposedly consuming rich dishes and desserts. They simply fill up on expensive wine, laugh merrily through their meals and pick at their fine cuisine.
I may not have ordered the most expensive or decadent menu item but I feel as though this afternoon trip to Bodega is surely an authentically French experience - I am spending way too much money and the food is good but I won't finish my plate as I have filled up on expensive wine.
Overall, the staff was quite attentive and not at all discriminatory against a lowly student when their usual clientele appears slightly more professional.
The food was fairly good and somewhat expensive but not totally out of reach. A lunch entrée will cost you anywhere from $13 to $25 and dinner entrées are between $18 and $35.
The wine - I can't say enough about the wine - is where it can get expensive, with the cheapest glass being $7.50 and the median price about $10.50, with $11.50 at the higher end of the scale.
However, the service and French food aside, it really was the act of drinking a fantastic glass of wine at lunch that truly made the meal. If you were to skip out on something, I would recommend it be the ravioli and not the pinot.
The first clue is the clientele. I am definitely the only person here not on a business lunch and surely the only patron dining without a Blackberry displayed prominently beside my dinner plate. Well, c'est la vie! Bodega's website promises a "meal that is luxurious and classically French," and today, I'll be the judge of that!
I take a gander at the wine list and select a fine glass of pinot grigio, which arrives promptly and properly chilled. I expected it to be served on a silver platter or at least in a diamond studded glass for $10.50, but hey, this is fine French dining.
Sipping my wine very, very slowly, I take a peek at the menu. Some fine French staples like Duck Confit and and Bouillabaisse. When the server returns I select the shrimp and scallop ravioli in a light curry sauce and reach for my wine when to my horror I realize le vin has in fact run dry. "Anozer glass?" proposes the accented server. Mais oui!
The food arrives quickly and so does the second round of pinot. The "ravioli" is really about four medium size shrimps encased in pasta resembling Chinese dumplings, minus the usual dumpling filling and the fact that dumplings are usually around a dollar apiece. The scallops are tender and the curry sauce is just the right amount of spice.
Though it is not a particularly large portion, I find myself rather full, rather quickly. Aha! This is how French people stay so thin while supposedly consuming rich dishes and desserts. They simply fill up on expensive wine, laugh merrily through their meals and pick at their fine cuisine.
I may not have ordered the most expensive or decadent menu item but I feel as though this afternoon trip to Bodega is surely an authentically French experience - I am spending way too much money and the food is good but I won't finish my plate as I have filled up on expensive wine.
Overall, the staff was quite attentive and not at all discriminatory against a lowly student when their usual clientele appears slightly more professional.
The food was fairly good and somewhat expensive but not totally out of reach. A lunch entrée will cost you anywhere from $13 to $25 and dinner entrées are between $18 and $35.
The wine - I can't say enough about the wine - is where it can get expensive, with the cheapest glass being $7.50 and the median price about $10.50, with $11.50 at the higher end of the scale.
However, the service and French food aside, it really was the act of drinking a fantastic glass of wine at lunch that truly made the meal. If you were to skip out on something, I would recommend it be the ravioli and not the pinot.
Be the first to comment on this story