With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, a common thought on many minds is where’s a romantic spot to go and celebrate? I know what you are thinking…how can you review restaurants for Valentine’s Day when your article has to be to the editors of the paper in January? Well, Gus and I willingly took one for the team and had a romantic dinner a little early to celebrate the night we met six years ago.
We have been to many quaint, romantic restaurants, but Bistro 157 is the one place in town known better than all the rest as the place to go for a wonderful meal. Neither of us had ever been there, and I will admit my interest was piqued. Could it live up to its hype? Would the food be worth the prices that are not really within a law student’s budget? There was only one way to find out, go big or go home. We made reservations for a Friday evening and went to try it for ourselves.
Bistro 157 got its name from its address, which is 157 Lincolnway in Valparaiso. It is owned by Chef Nicole Bissonnette, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu in France, and who actually bought the restaurant from her husband, Chef Gary Sanders. The cuisine is described as a fusion of French and Asian flavors with an American twist. This means that the menu includes both sushi and veal osso bucco provencal. How can French and Asian styles be blended, you ask? Apparently, the answer is deliciously.
My four part analysis of our experience at Bistro is as follows:
1. Ambiance
When I walked into Bistro 157, I was a little surprised by how small the restaurant was. It is compact, but the tables were not overly crowded. However, for a Friday night, there were not very many people dining in the restaurant, so it is hard to imagine what it would be like if it were crowded. The decor is minimalist, with exposed brick walls decorated with contemporary canvases bringing splashes of color to the space. Gus and I enjoyed using the artwork as a Rorschach test, commenting on what each reminded us of (look for the one that I thought looked like Stewie from the Family Guy). There was tasteful jazz music playing in the background and a leisurely atmosphere to the room. Overall, I would describe the ambiance as elegant and refined.
2. Service
All of the servers were polite and efficient. We were seated and checked on periodically by a hostess, who chatted with us whenever she came by. Our waiter was polite, but had some trouble remembering the extensive list of specials that he needed to tell us about. He also struck me as slightly disappointed when we did not order drinks after our meal, because he tried to convince us quite persuasively that we needed more than wine with dinner. Speaking of wine, the wine list is very extensive, but apparently it is going through renovations, because when we made our selection, we were told that it was no longer available. Our busboy was very nice, laughing when he agreed to take our picture and stating that he had become a professional photographer by now.
3.Cost
The prices are slightly higher than I am used to paying for food, but the serving size for the entrees and the quality of everything made up for this. The first course options vary from $8 for potato gnocchi with butternut squash and cider braised smoked pork to $11 for sushi. The salads range from $5.50 to $8.50. Of course, entrees are significantly more expensive, with the least expensive option being bistro mac for $18 and the most expensive being the paella a la valenciana for $39. Once you add wine and dessert to these prices, you can see how your bill from Bistro might get steep, but Valentine’s Day comes only once a year, and the food from this restaurant is sure to impress any sweetheart.
4. Taste
With our wine, we were served a hearty wheat bread, which came with butter and roasted garlic to spread on it. Now, I enjoy bread and butter, but generally one or the other should be warm so that the butter can be spread without tearing the bread. Apparently that is not the style at this restaurant, which served both cold. The garlic on the other hand was extremely hot, and served as a whole head of garlic, which made it difficult to spread without burning your fingers.
Gus and I started with the Bistro Sushi, a platter of three types of sushi that change nightly served with wakame-cucumber salad, wasabi, and soy sauce. The night we were there, we got to try California rolls, which are tuna, cucumber, and red and yellow peppers rolled in sticky rice and seaweed. Our second pieces of sushi were thinly sliced fresh tuna. The final pieces were the best of all, but I am not sure what kind of fish they were. They were delicate, pink fish served on a ball of rice with pearl caviar on top. I strongly recommend the sushi, if that is something you generally enjoy. It was by far the best sushi I have had in the Midwest.
For my entree, I had the fish special, which was called skatewing. I had never heard of this particular fish, but it was sweet and tender with a taste similar to scallops. Our waiter informed me that it was a ray fish, and in doing some research later, I discovered that it is used frequently in French cuisine. Bistro served it lightly fried in butter with a sauce of sauteed onions, sweet peppers, and capers. My dish came with roasted vegetable and garlic mashed potatoes. Both sides were tasty, but not overly exiting, as they are things you see frequently in restaurants.
Gus went for the cast iron fired angus ribeye with a sweet onion worcestershire sauce. His steak, which was encrusted in smoked sea salt and cracked pepper, was enormous. I stole a bite at great risk to my fingers, and found that it was delicious. Gus’s quote of the evening was, “this is the last bite of what could possibly be the best piece of meat I have ever had.” Enough said. It was served with home-style fries. Now, of course, these were not ordinary fries, but rather were fried in duck fat. It gave the potatoes the wild, rich flavor of duck without making them greasy or overdone.
No Valentine’s Day meal is complete without chocolate, so we decided to share the flourless chocolate lava cake for dessert. It was served with kahlua gelato and fresh berries. Gus must have been full from his enormous entree, because he actually let me eat several bites of this dessert. It’s rich chocolate flavor definitely will inspire feelings of love in most women, and I believe in many men as well.
Conclusion
Dining at Bistro 157 is a satisfying experience. It would impress any Valentine’s Day date for sure. However, with the slightly higher prices of entrees, I would recommend saving this experience for special occasions. Otherwise your sweetheart might get spoiled and expect to eat like this every night.
Kirsten is a 3L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu..
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