Mid-City's Charmant

One of the surprise closures of the last year was Mopho, a quirky Vietnamese fusion place owned by the talented local chef Michael Gulotta.  Its departure was a blow not only to the local culinary scene, but to the little Mid-City strip mall where it was located. Mopho was a cool place with interesting and delicious food, and I wondered what would move into the little space in this strip mall that has seen better days.

Months later the entire space was completely different. Charmant is a lovely bistro that looks nothing like the previous occupant. So extensive were the renovations that a small tile entryway includes the name of the restaurant on the floor.  If you look at the website it prominently features the word charmant and its definition.  It’s a French word that means charming, lovely, enchanting, intriguing, delightful. All of those words aptly describe the place. 

Chris Borges and his wife Bonnie are in this venture together. I talked to Chris when he was chef at The Commons Club in The Virgin Hotel a year or two back. Our conversation was fun and I realized that he was a creative fellow who occasionally threw something really wild in the mix. I was alarmed by his use of bottarga.

So when I looked at the menu at Charmant, I was expecting to see unusual things. There was nothing too wild there at all. I went in for lunch recently, and ordered a few things. This is an ambitious project for this husband/wife team. They are open each day but Tuesday, serving brunch from 8am-2pm, then Happy Hour 2-5pm, with dinner following at 5-10pm. 

The Happy Hour menu looked most appealing but I couldn’t make it for Happy Hour. I went in too late to order breakfast, which didn’t look all that interesting, and I got lunch items. The burger jumped out at me mainly as a default item, even though it was Wagyu. And in the appetizers I settled immediately on the crab dip. I was deciding if I wanted the warm Chèvre when my eyes fell on duck confit. I always use pricing to mentally picture what will appear before me, though that is not always fail proof. The price of $19 for a duck confit leg didn’t send up warning bells. (That’s the price at the disturbingly cheap and impossibly delicious Mandeville gem Cafe Lynn.)

But here it was essentially a frisée salad with morsels of duck confit scattered about, with the entire thing under a blanket of grated Parmesan. Very odd. Had it been stated on the menu as a duck confit salad, I would have been fine with this, but I expected the usual preparation of a duck leg.

The duck was tender and the French vinaigrette very nice, but again, expectations. Currants and what appeared to be paper-thin slices of pickled beets rounded this out.

The crab dip was very tasty, though it had a definite curb appeal problem. Just the crab dip itself, not the presentation. That was very nice. It came as a smallish portion (but quite enough) topped with microgreens and behind the dip was a lovely array of pumpernickel Melba toast, and next-level seeded Saltines. I really enjoyed this when I started eating it. Unlike a normal crab dip, which often has a cheesy crust or at least visibly melted cheese, this crab dip appeared to be just Béchamel, and the pieces of lump crab were small. The taste was there, though. I was sad when this ended. I loved this. The cracker dichotomy of color and crunch made for an interesting and pleasurable dish.

The burger was one of those “kitchen sink” burgers, where there is marmalade and housemade pickles and various condiments and dressings, etc. It’s too much. But it was a process of elimination choice, so I went with it. It was juicy  and meaty, rather than a smashburger (the burger trend whose popularity mystifies me.) Dick Brennan had a saying Tom often liked to quote which decried too many elements in one dish. He felt that the end result tasted like nothing, with all the flavors cancelling each other. But that was not the case here. It was a tasty burger, which is usually guaranteed when the initial ingredient is Wagyu beef. The aged cave Cheddar and horseradish beer mustard and baby greens, pickled beets and caramelized onions gave their essence to this whole and it was a good burger. I still prefer Angus, Cheddar, lettuce tomato and pickle with a whole slice of raw purple onion, but you can charge more for the complicated ones. This one was $26, and not good enough for that price.

These came with fries that were ordinary frozen McDonalds' style bistro fries. For $26, this plate should have included housecut fries.

These complaints aside, I look forward to returning to this charming space for more of this eclectic food. 

According to the website, the owner’s vision was for a neighborhood spot for people to gather for brunch and Happy Hour, and to linger with friends over dinner. They nailed it.