Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: GCS

Matisse
512 Yates St., Victoria BC, Canada
http://www.restaurantmatisse.com/foodmenu.html
Review date:  October, 2010

Victoria has so many well-rated restaurants nowadays, we had a hard time picking just two for our brief visit. Matisse won over Chez Michel, as although a longish walk we could avoid using the car. Like San Francisco, tourists can get to a lot of the interesting attractions by walking or a short bus ride. Victoria is almost completely flat, making walking around easy.

Co-owner and Francophile John Phillips acted as maitre d' that evening, reciting a long list of specials that really deserved a separate sheet, as there were too many to remember easily. Still, we managed to try several of them.

The house salad that evening was tender young romaine leaves with a Bing cherry balsamic dressing, sprinkled generously with pine nuts. There was a light drizzle of pesto oil around the plate but its taste was neglible. The lettuce was crisp and fresh, and the addition of reconstituted dried Bings to the dressing was lovely.

The appetizer crepe of the day was mushrooms in a cream sauce. Very simple, but nicely done. Christie and Carlos had the lobster bisque, which reminded us strongly of the old Chef Paul/Oakland's version: lobster shell stock and lobster butter, without any use of commercial lobster base. Lightly whipped cream (no sugar, of course) melted atop, as is traditional. Carlos called it one of the best soups he'd ever had.

Carlos also got the melted brie salad, a small round wrapped in filo, baked until melted, and served with a small heap of undressed frisee with a sweet cucumber pickle on the side. This last is indicative of the type of small detail so many places miss if you are going to eat something this rich. Adding a side relish gives the diner more control than plating the greens in the kitchen with a dressing.

Carlos and Mel got the seafood Newburg, which had a slight excess of salt but was otherwise excellent. Christie and I chose the Filet Rossini, a slightly different version of the one Meritage in Oakland does. Matisse used foie gras butter, which is a way to extend the very expensive foie gras. It isn't my preference - Meritage uses a hefty slice of foie gras which is infinitely better, IMHO, but the filet was sweet and tender, a nice contrast to the musky richness of the butter.

Carlos and Mel also chose the creme brulee for dessert, which came decorated with a lovely touch: a tent-like grid of two spun sugar lattice panels, upon which a crisp thin sugar cookie cutout of Matisse's Icarus, one of my favorite artworks, was perched. Christie got the butterscotch croissant bread pudding, which she and I shared. Both of us agreed it was excellent.

Matisse's pre-fixe of three courses is nicely thought-out, with the options of several menu items available for a modest upcharge. Many restaurants limit their more expensive entrees from being added to a pre-fixe, but we were able to add the Filet and Newburg for a modest $6 each.

Matisse isn't inexpensive, but for the quality of the food and the skill with traditional French classics, this is an excellent French restaurant we would love to have available to us in the East Bay. Alas, we are left as only occasional visitors, but we hope Matisse has a long and successful run as it deserves.

Along with two pre-fixes, two starters, two entrees, one dessert, one beverage (the coffee was excellent, as is usually the case with French and Italian places), with tip came to $304, and well worthwhile.