Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Happy hour for dinner, the French way

Leave content but not overfull

Pork pistacchio terrine with pickled veggies
Pork pistacchio terrine with pickled veggies

I like making a dinner out of happy hour or, as the French would say, making un apéro dînatoire. That is, to sip, socialize, graze on a variety of offerings over time, and leave content but not overfull.

Mussels in a black pot, served sans fries or bread
Place

Et Voilà French Bistro

3015 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Et Voilà French Bistro is a slice of Paris on Adams Avenue, and offers up classic French bistro fare with aplomb. If you go on a Tuesday, you get the happy hour menu (from 4:30 to 7pm) and the Crêpes Tuesdays menu, featuring sweet and savory crepes. On this recent Tuesday, I decided to let my drinks mirror my plates — I chose a flight of four red wines ($15).

Sponsored
Sponsored
Crisp green bean tempura

As for food, we began with the pork terrine (terrine de porc, $9), which is a housemade pork and pistachio pâté served with pickled vegetables and dijon mustard. It comes with fig bread, but I liked it on the fresh baguette ($2). The terrine is a mound of gherkins atop the meat and the rest of the veggies (carrot, mushroom, pearl onions, and radishes) are in a pretty little pile of their own. Unlike a liver pâté, which can be too creamy for my tastes, this country pâté version is more coarse and dry, closer to a slice of meatloaf.

Roasted bananas and warm liquid chocolate crepe

David ordered the Moules Mariniére ($11), comprising Washington State Penn cove mussels in a garlic, parsley butter, and white wine sauce. This dish did not come with bread or frites, but we had already ordered the baguette, so David was able to make the most of the sauce which, though enjoyable, did not best his favorite mussels down the street at Bleu Bohème.

We got the green beans tempura (beignet d’haricot vert, $7). They’re served with tomato-basil aioli, though I preferred them without. The green beans were fresh, and the the fried coating was light and crispy, making them fun to snack on.

In the end, we went for a sweet crepe — Banane-Chocolat ($9), with roasted bananas and warm chocolate sauce. Different than the French street style, here the bananas and chocolate were served atop the crepe, rather than inside. But the flavors were the same, as luscious as you'd expect caramelized bananas and warm liquid chocolate atop a paper-thin pancake to be.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Next Article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Pork pistacchio terrine with pickled veggies
Pork pistacchio terrine with pickled veggies

I like making a dinner out of happy hour or, as the French would say, making un apéro dînatoire. That is, to sip, socialize, graze on a variety of offerings over time, and leave content but not overfull.

Mussels in a black pot, served sans fries or bread
Place

Et Voilà French Bistro

3015 Adams Avenue, San Diego

Et Voilà French Bistro is a slice of Paris on Adams Avenue, and offers up classic French bistro fare with aplomb. If you go on a Tuesday, you get the happy hour menu (from 4:30 to 7pm) and the Crêpes Tuesdays menu, featuring sweet and savory crepes. On this recent Tuesday, I decided to let my drinks mirror my plates — I chose a flight of four red wines ($15).

Sponsored
Sponsored
Crisp green bean tempura

As for food, we began with the pork terrine (terrine de porc, $9), which is a housemade pork and pistachio pâté served with pickled vegetables and dijon mustard. It comes with fig bread, but I liked it on the fresh baguette ($2). The terrine is a mound of gherkins atop the meat and the rest of the veggies (carrot, mushroom, pearl onions, and radishes) are in a pretty little pile of their own. Unlike a liver pâté, which can be too creamy for my tastes, this country pâté version is more coarse and dry, closer to a slice of meatloaf.

Roasted bananas and warm liquid chocolate crepe

David ordered the Moules Mariniére ($11), comprising Washington State Penn cove mussels in a garlic, parsley butter, and white wine sauce. This dish did not come with bread or frites, but we had already ordered the baguette, so David was able to make the most of the sauce which, though enjoyable, did not best his favorite mussels down the street at Bleu Bohème.

We got the green beans tempura (beignet d’haricot vert, $7). They’re served with tomato-basil aioli, though I preferred them without. The green beans were fresh, and the the fried coating was light and crispy, making them fun to snack on.

In the end, we went for a sweet crepe — Banane-Chocolat ($9), with roasted bananas and warm chocolate sauce. Different than the French street style, here the bananas and chocolate were served atop the crepe, rather than inside. But the flavors were the same, as luscious as you'd expect caramelized bananas and warm liquid chocolate atop a paper-thin pancake to be.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Next Article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader