PRAYING FOR POULET
Just Because
It was like the opening line to a joke: “So a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar ….” Only in this case, they really did walk into a bar/restaurant called Petite Maison. You saw our video a couple weeks ago about former Tapino owner James Porter opening a cozy French bistro in Old Town. Apparently, his meeting the scheduled opening date was ordained by a higher power — because as folks like Peter Kasperski scrap plan after plan and endure takeover after takeover, the little James that could trucks on, closing a place and opening another one in near-light speed.
But let’s get back to the blessy blessy. Porter and his wingwoman, Wendy Goldman, ordered up Deacon Jim Brett and Rabbi Alan Abrams to bless the place during its first test run with friends and family. “We wanted as many denominations as possible, but scheduling in a Buddhist or a Shaman turned out to be a nightmare,” said Goldman. So they went with the big two.
As the crowd gathered outside to watch the blessing, kitchen staff prepared the first “service” (pun totally intended.) Even atheists kept their chuckles to a minimum, bowing their heads for a sec to honor the new joint. (Of course, mass with more than a sip of wine is a hell of a lot more fun.)
After the blessing, EATERAZ headed inside to query a few industry insiders about their thoughts on the religious experience. Gossip queen Mari Markogianis tried to put Crave’s master of operations, Shannan Metcalf, in her place, while event planner Kerri Conlon tried to avoid any comments that might piss off The Lord. Just watch.
But is Petite Maison a religious experience? We got Porter to cook up some dishes from the menu — escargot, cod fritters, foie gras, steak frites, poulet, and some other good stuff. Want to know what we think? We think we will be eating at Petite Maison every night this week because after that, we won’t be able to get a table. Why? You folks will jam up the reservation line. It’s that good. For the first time in a long time, that nine-million-star review often doled out by local food critics might actually be justified.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
