Bar Le Freres

With Billie-Jean opening up recently, Patience wanted to try out all the other "Zoe" restaurants since she has never gotten to visit them before. Luckily, our anniversary and my birthday fall together in January so it was just a matter of waiting until "special occasion time".

Bar Le Freres is definitely a special place for special occasions. Quite fancy. Quite French. I love the red walls and portraits from the 1800s where all the paintings are staring at you.

We were smart and made a reservation about a month in advance. Not only did this help us get a table away from the door in the dining room during the recent cold snap, but I feel it helped us to land one of the best tables in the dining room separate from the bar. The restaurant overall is small with limited seating so I have no doubt the place is booked all the time. At least in the summer, they can expand to the patio and our server bragged about their happy hour, which is probably more affordable.

I think we were at one of the best tables because we were sat in these huge armchairs. Between that and the large tapestry next to the table, I thought we were royals! hehehe

Perhaps that is what lead us to order a crazy amount of food, although it was hard not to with so many tasty choices. Just the hors d'deuvres alone... Baetje Farms Cheese Plate, Gruyere Souffle, Steamed Mussels, Lobster Tail...and then our server said the magic word: scallops. Not just any scallops, but GIANT scallops!

Giant Scallops

I had my eyes on the Lobster Bisque since I sat down, but they don't do cups. I ate the WHOLE bowl.

Lobster Bisque

And then the server brought out these delicious Gruyère gougères that were perfect for dipping into the soup. I wish I had saved one to clean the bowl with at the end!

Gruyere Balls

At this point, I really didn't need to eat anything else.

I played it safe by ordering the Halibut for my entree, the crispy outside was a little tough to cut through, but the inside was perfect. (You know the potatoes underneath were amazing though!) I did manage to stop halfway this time at least.

Halibut

Patience went all in with the Duck Confit. So much flavor! Perfectly paired with a Chateauneuf du Pape!

Duck Confit

Still in celebratory mode, we finished off the meal with chocolate mousse, which also went deliciously with the wine.

Chocolate Mousse

Patience drank her dessert as well with a Caffe Amaro. So pretty.

Caffe Amaro

I cannot WAIT to take Patience to Zoe's next two restaurants...

Resources:

Bar Le Freres = https://www.barlesfreres.net

Photos by Patience Scanlon