We had gone to La Cachette in Century City many years ago. The chef, Jean-François Meteigner, has just moved to Santa Monica and has changed his concept from fine dining to a more casual atmosphere with bistro cuisine.
The room
Trishia, our excellent waitress
Clever butter dish
Uncovered butter dish
Salt for the table
BYO white wine – $15.00 corkage
All dishes were splits – one for two
House-made Duck Pate with marinated shallots and mustard – excellent – I would return just for this.
Lightly creamed lobster and blue crab bisque – completely tasteless – one taste only. To the restaurant’s credit, this was taken off the bill.
Hawaiian Ahi Tuna with Korean Chili paste and toast – the tuna was appropriately diced and there was a nice kick from the chili paste
Organic poached eggs, homemade organic salmon sausages, a tomato based saucing – I am assuming – Unfortunately the poached eggs were cold, but the salmon sausage was outstanding.
Close-up of the salmon sausage
Glass of Red Wine
Cassoulet with Duck Leg, House-made Duck sausage
The duck sausage was another winner – Jean-François Meteigner’s sausages whether it be salmon or duck are wonderful
Close-up of the Cassoulet and the Duck leg
La Bistro Cachette is a good restaurant, not a great restaurant. I miss Jean-François Meteigner’s insistence on faultless execution. Bistro food is casual and the ingredients are not hyper expensive, but that doesn’t mean that execution should be less than and unfortunately La Bistro Cachette hasn’t achieved that yet given the soup and the poached eggs.
Refined Palate 