Bistro on the Brandywine...???
In my travels today, I happened to notice a new sign for Bistro on the Brandywine outside the building right next door to Brandywine Prime. About a year ago (just about the time B'wine Prime opened) I was told that B'wine Prime was going to be opening a small cafe/pastry shop in that location. I wonder if that's what it is. I haven't heard or read anything about it since, and I was wondering if anyone else had.
By CindyJ
on Apr 4, 2008 12:34 PM
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From the email Brandywine Prime sent me, it's a french cafe type that is affiliated with them that just opened... http://www.bistroonthebrandywine.com/
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Thanks! It sure looks like it's worth a visit.
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Opened just two months ago, Bistro on the Brandywine is the newest venture of Brandywine Valley restaurateur Dan Butler. Sister restaurant and parking lot neighbor to Brandywine Prime, it’s Butler’s second opening on the Route 1 corridor in sleepy Chadds Ford, PA in just a little over a year.
By way of full disclosure, I’ve conducted wine dinners at a number of Dan’s restaurants over the years. As a result, I’m not a stranger when walking into any of his establishments. Also as a result, I generally opt not to write up my dining experiences at said establishments. However, I figured I’d make an exception this time, given that the Bistro is new, BYOB – more on that later – and a generally charming little spot. Given the full house on a Friday night, it also seems to have filled a void in its neighborhood, fitting neatly in the gap between fine dining and basic pub grub.
There were some clear standouts based on our quick sampling of the menu. Medium-sized mussels, which can be ordered in both appetizer and entrée sized portions, were drenched in a deeply flavorful and intensely creamy saffron sauce. The accompanying frites are cut in house, double-fried and combine crispiness with surprisingly potato-y fleshiness given their matchstick size. The only minor shortcoming on that plate was the aioli dip for the fries, which could be a bit zestier and a little less rich. A massive tousle of the same fries came as a de facto part of my main course of steak frites. The hangar steak itself was richly beefy, cooked perfectly medium-rare (except at its most tapered end), appropriately chewy and ratcheted up a notch by a drizzle of shallot infused demi-glace.
I would have preferred a thinner, crispier crust, along with more acidic sauce and slightly higher seasoning for the pizza margherita we shared as an appetizer. That didn’t stop us from asking to take the leftovers home, though. And it may just be an appealing style for the customers that come with kids in tow. For those with a predilection for richness, the short ribs are an exercise in the extremes of comfort food. Braised in veal stock, served with Gorgonzola gnocchi and generously sauced, they were, no bones about it, decadent.
No doubt good news to the restaurant’s potential cash flow, its liquor license application was approved just the day before our visit. There is already a short list of Pennsylvania beers in bottle and a wine list so tiny as to be cute – just two whites and two reds, all offered by the glass and the bottle. I’m sure the list will quickly come up to speed. The good news for the local wine-toting crowd is that the restaurant plans to continue its BYOB policy indefinitely. The $5 corkage fee per bottle is justified by quality stemware and waived if a bottle is ordered from the list.
Bistro on the Brandywine
1623 Baltimore Pike
(at Routes 1 & 100)
Chadds Ford, PA 19317
610-388-8090
Photos and further details of our visit can be found at: http://mcduffwine.blogspot.com/2008/0...
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I would have agreed with this 2008 review until fairly recently, but we went last nite and it was a terrible disappointment. they must have changed chefs and those mussels that were so plump and delicious were dry and strong. The preparation has clearly changed and it just was not the same. :(
also, the fries were terribly oversalted. The others enjoyed their dishes but these were the reasons to go, in my opinion and they are ruined. Hopefully, they will bring back the old way.
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