Bistronomic Seasonal French Cuisine | Gold Coast, Chicago

In this season of restaurant openings, French is the new black.

And the Frenchiest of them all is Bistronomic, the new Gold Coast restaurant from chef Martial Noguier.

His menu isn't anchored in salade frisée and steak frites. Instead, the French-born (and -accented) Noguier draws from the philosophy so often lost in the American adaptation of the bistro genre: seasonality.

Salmon salad ($11) is a winter dish evoking murmurs of spring, with delicately cured Coho salmon, apples, potatoes, and onions, brightened by crème fraîche, lemon confit and mustard.

A recent special, pan-roasted arctic char ($20), referenced bouillabaisse with its saffron-tinted lobster broth and tangle of fennel and onions. Silky cauliflower velouté ($7) showed the vegetable at its sweet best, the shavings of Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese melting into soft, savory strips.

Noguier is passionate about Midwest cheese, which he offers by the ounce, warmed with accoutrements or as a grilled cheese sandwich–recently Capriole goat cheese on brioche with honey-lemon butter ($8.50).

After a decade of growing acclaim as chef of One Sixtyblue and then Café des Architectes, this is Noguier's first restaurant of his own. Already, the concept is honed and the menu approachable, with sophistication never lurking too far behind.

We can't wait to see what happens at Bistronomic when the Green City Market is back in full swing.

Bistronomic, 840 N. Wabash; 312-944-8400 or bistronomic.net