Bistro Vatel
226 E Olmos Dr
San Antonio TX 78212
210-828-3141
Mosaic Wine Group had a truly divine meal the other day in San Antonio, where we lunched at the Bistro Vatel. The duck confit, roasted to a perfection and dressed with a red wine-reduction, was sublime — a minuette of carmelized fat flavors playing in harmony with the tender flesh of the fowl.
House-cured venison sausage was served with a more fluffy fried potato (while the duck confit was accompanied by a classic Parisian-bistro-style fry). The gently sour black cherry reduction was a delightful muse for the restrained notes of the venison (photo by Doug Boorn).
Even a simple head of Boston lettuce is a work of art — a Monet watercolor — in the hands of the Vatel cuisiniérs.
Owner Damien Vatel is a descendant of the legendary 17th-century French chef François Vatel, who — among other accomplishments — cooked for King Louis XIV and invented Chantilly cream. François Vatel was portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in the 2000 biopic Vatel. Damien Vatel is also a professional race car driver.
Damien’s mother Lucille bakes all of his restaurants’s bread daily in the Vatel Bakery across the street from the Bistro. The Vatel family hails from Lille in Northern France.
Highly recommended.
Mosaic Wine Group 