"Still a Winner!. A little back story: I last visited this delightful establishment 2 decades ago. Back then, they had a wonderful dish on the regular menu of calf's liver sauteed in a raspberry vinaigrette reduction. I would take people here who swore up and down that they hated liver and would bet them that they would love it the way it was prepared here. I never lost that bet! Finding ourselves en route from South Beach to Palm Beach last night in terrible traffic, hunger overtook us and we decided (i.e. my girlfriend insisted) to revisit the Brazilian Steakhouse Gaucho Rodizio which had pleasantly surprised us just last month. Boy, were we surprised to find the door chained and a note scrawled on a manila file folder affixed to the door announcing their closure. Ah, well, such is the restaurant business the world over. After a few U-turns I noticed a familiar strip mall that I had not been to in 20 years and there was Le Bistro after all these years, just as I remembered it. We took a chance at 7:15 and went inside without a reservation. We were immediately shown to a delightful table by the window and were extremely well taken care by the professional staff. Somehow she managed to order a bottle of still water before I had my napkin on my lap. The wine list was a delight and we ordered a bottle of Prosecco that while a bit dry for her tastes, suited me just fine. We proceeded to devour the assiette of 3 cheeses. The Stilton made one pucker (in a good way) and the Taleggio was excellent. The presentation was very well done with a dollop of honeycomb and toasted almonds. Also, the in house baked bread was wonderful as was the dish of olives that disappeared before I could try even one (she was VERY hungry). We followed that up with a delicious Duck Soup that we shared. It appeared a little thin to me at first, but after one bite I was immediately impressed. For dinner they had a special dish I just couldn't resist. It was a bone-in veal chop in a white mushroom sauce and it was absolutely perfectly cooked and presented. For her, it was the Grouper en papillote that had the most delicious combination of cilantro and ginger sprinkled on top. Both of our plates were clean when we were finished. I don't know where we found the room ,but we ended the evening with the Grand assiette of dessert sampler which included homemade strawberry gelato, creme brulee (very cutely served in an espresso cup), a chocolate mousse that was amazing and an apple tart that was just perfect. It was a wonderful night and we were well satiated to continue on to Palm Beach for cocktails where all we talked about was how great our dinner was! It's a remarkable achievement for a restaurant to be able to retain it's superiority after 20 years and I commend the new owners for following up and carrying forward such a tradition of excellence."
