A restaurant’s menu can be minimalist without being simple. Proof of this can be found in Station North, where the charming new European-style bistro Le Comptoir du Vin has been impressing sophisticated diners since it opened in November. Generally, just seven to 10 dishes are scrawled in white chalk on a blackboard in the tiny dining room, but each of them offers a gateway to the best attributes of French-inspired cuisine.

Take for example a relatively mundane-sounding bowl of lentils. Here, chef and coowner Will Mester demonstrates the depth of his skill. When combined with vadouvan, a French spice that is a derivative of masala, and labneh, a thick Greek yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, the dish sparkles. Bread is a key component of any European meal, and the soft, lightly charred grilled flatbread paired perfectly with the concoction.

It’s terrific, but it’s not even the best bread in the place. Mester’s girlfriend, coowner Rosemary Liss, calls pastry chef Kelsey Martin their “secret weapon.” She won’t be a secret for long. Her wheat sourdough, made with spelt and red wheat flour, is the kind of bread that makes even the thought of succumbing to a low-carb diet preposterous. It’s served warm, slightly crisp, and topped with Japanese katsuobushi butter. Two thick pieces accompanied an outstanding order of pork pâté. We assume most people smear it on the bread, but each slice was so tasty on its own that we savored them individually.

Mester and Liss met three years ago while working at Bottega, the revered neo-Italian restaurant that occupied Le Comptoir du Vin’s space until it moved a block away in 2017. His Baltimore culinary journey includes stops at Woodberry Kitchen and the late Parts & Labor. She did fermentation and tended bar at Clavel. They’d been looking for the right location to open their own restaurant for nearly two years when the Maryland Avenue venue became available.

“Travelling together in Europe and seeing these small wine bars, we knew that was what we wanted,” Liss says. “Something intimate that could be a neighborhood spot.”

Co-owners Will Mester and Rosemary Liss met three years ago while working at Bottega.

They did some minor remodeling to their former home away from home, most significantly adding a small, four-seat bar that overlooks the kitchen. During our visits in December, most of the eight tables were occupied. Le Comptoir du Vin means “the wine counter” in French, and it was the name of a bistro Mester frequented often when he lived in Lyon, France. “The chef was a very charismatic older guy who was addicted to horse gambling and lovingly screaming at his customers,” says Mester, whom we didn’t hear yell once. “I am very much rooted in the market-driven cuisine that has a great history in France.”

Mester and Liss have spent time in Osaka (where his mother is from), Tokyo, and Kyoto, so Japanese flavors play a large role at Le Comptoir du Vin as well. Orion, a light lager from Okinawa, was the only beer selection on the nights we were there. When it comes to libations, here, too, Mester and Liss are judicious but nuanced with their selections. Two reds, two whites, and one skin-contact wine were available by the glass, with six others sold by the bottle only (most are French). Sake, Campari, whiskey and ginger ale, and gin and tonic were also available.

During our first meal, we drank Côtes du Rhône, which paired well with our pici pasta and swordfish served with large corona beans and salsa verde. The pici pasta, essentially fat spaghetti, was served with duck ragout and olives and was complex and well executed. In keeping with European sensibilities, both entrees were on the smaller side, but appropriately priced at $16 and $18 respectively. That left plenty of room (in our stomachs and our wallets) for a slice of Martin’s signature Japanese yuzu cheesecake, which managed to be rich and light at the same time.

The star of our second dinneralong with that sourdough breadwas the steak tartare. Masterfully seasoned and topped with a raw egg yolk, it was accompanied by decadent potatoes simmered in water and then fried in duck fat and tossed with the classic herb-parsley mix persillade. The menu will change on a seasonal, weekly, and even daily basis, Mester and Liss say, but stalwarts such as the sourdough (and steak tartare, we hope) aren’t going anywhere.

Opening their own restaurant has been a whirlwind, the couple says. The key, according to Mester, is “finding a balance between work and the rest of your life. It’s a lot, but when it’s yours, it’s really gratifying and exciting.” They’re serving outstanding, worldly food in a lovely, warm space—and they’re still doing it together. What more could we ask for? That’s simply magnifique.

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LE COMPTOIR DU VIN 1729 Maryland Ave., 443-297-7384. HOURS: Tues.-Sat. 5:30-10 p.m. PRICES: $8-18. AMBIANCE: Casual.

OPEN

Le Comptoir du Vin: For years, local diners knew the cozy space at 1729 Maryland Avenue as the home of Bottega—the celebrated BYOB from local restaurateur Adrien Aeschliman. The Tuscan spot later migrated to larger digs down the street, but the building still remains in the Bottega family. Former employees Will Mester and Rosemary Liss recently transformed the Station North space into a European bistro called Le Comptoir du Vin, French for “the wine counter.” At the new restaurant, Mester, formerly of Woodberry Kitchen and Parts & Labor, pairs a selection of French regional wines with dishes such as house sourdough with butter and grated daikon, steak tartare with country potatoes, gnocchi with duck ragout, and a signature yuzu cheesecake. The 35-seat spot is now open Tuesday-Saturday for dinner service. 1729 Maryland Ave.

COMING SOON

Pure Raw Juice: This fuel-up fixture has been providing colorful smoothies, pressed juices, and acai bowls to locals since its Federal Hill flagship debuted in 2015. Pure Raw expanded with a new shop in Towson soon after, and now, the juice bar is widening its footprint yet again with a third location in Hampden. Equipped with large windows and a mezzanine level, the new spot is expected to debut at The Rotunda shopping center in the spring of 2019. Pure Raw president Richard Manson says he’s looking forward to joining neighbors like MOM’s Organic Market and Brick Bodies in the mixed-used development. “We’re really excited to join the Hampden community,” he says. “It’s a community that really understands and respects what we do.” Hampden dwellers will easily be able to stick to their New Year’s resolutions with the shop’s signature juice blends including the “True Blood” (pineapple, beet, carrot, and orange) and Lemon Ginger-Aid, which fuses ginger root, lemon, and filtered water. 711 W. 40th St.

NEWS

Chef Ashish Alfred Heads to the Beard House: The chef/owner of French brasserie Duck Duck Goose in Fells Point recently received the ultimate culinary honor when he was invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York City next month. Alfred, who was classically trained at the French Culinary Institute of Manhattan, plans to showcase his passion for French technique with a five-course meal that incorporates some his favorite dishes at Duck Duck Goose. “Cooking at the Beard House is really a dream come true for me,” Alfred said in a statement. “It’s an amazing honor to be invited to such a center of culinary achievement and share my best work with an intimate group of discerning guests—even more so because we’ll be together in the heart of the holiday season.” Tickets for the dinner on December 20 at 7 p.m. start at $140.

David Thomas Wins Chopped: Regulars gathered at Ida B’s Table last night to watch executive chef David Thomas cook for judges Martha Stewart, Amanda Freitag, and Marc Murphy on a special Thanksgiving episode of Food Network’s Chopped. Thomas made Baltimore proud, and ultimately won over the judges in every round of the tournament-style competition. His Southern soul food-inspired dishes included a mac and cheese made with Stewart’s butternut squash soup, deep-fried turkey breast with cracklings and gravy, and a spoonbread hand pie with cranberry and port whipped cream. “For me to be standing here in this moment is a powerful thing,” Thomas said on the show, after he was crowned the Chopped champion and winner of a $10,000 grand prize. “It lets me know that I’m on the right path. I feel like the ancestors are smiling.”

Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood Closing at Cross Street Market: There are many diverse stalls that will be operating in the newly renovated Cross Street Market by the time construction wraps up next year, but, sadly, longtime vendor Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood won’t be one of them. After a drawn-out lease dispute with developer Caves Valley Partners, Nick’s will be closing its doors for good on January 7. According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the announcement of the closure comes after a settlement was reached between Caves Valley and Nick’s owner Kwang Lee last week. Next month, be sure to pull up a wooden barstool and celebrate Nick’s 46 year-run with one last round of oysters and massive 32-oz. beers. 1065 S. Charles St. 410-685-2020

SHUT (FOR NOW)

BonChon Canton: For the time being, Canton diners will have to look elsewhere when cravings for Korean fried chicken strike. A sign posted to the front door of Bonchon off of Boston Street indicates that the Asian-fusion eatery will be temporarily closed until further notice. It goes on to thank guests for their patience and understanding. There’s no word yet on the reasons for the closure, or on when the spot plans to reopen. We’re not sure how long devoted regulars can last without the twice-fried chicken wings, pork buns, and bibimbap bowls, so here’s hoping for a swift turnaround. 3500 Boston St.

We’d barely breathed a sigh of relief that Bottega, Adrien Aeschliman’s well-loved rustic Italian trattoria in Station North, had reappeared after a months-long hiatus when the restaurateur opened another venue around the corner.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches. Colette, open since February, is Bottega’s French counterpart, serving up Provençal-inflected food in slightly more spacious digs that include a well-appointed, full-service bar, setting it apart from its sister restaurant’s BYOB policy. That makes sense, given Colette’s location. Sandwiched between Tapas Teatro and Pen & Quill, and just two doors down from the Charles Theater, Aeschliman’s new hot spot has created a virtual Restaurant Row in this increasingly bustling block of Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District. We say, bring it on.

In contrast to its larger neighbors, Colette is an intimate space. It’s long and narrow, with the marble-topped bar and tiled flooring up front recalling a Parisian brasserie and the line of sturdy wooden tables and absinthe-colored walls behind channeling a Toulouse-Lautrec poster of a busy urban cafe. Its charms are plainspoken and less quirky than Bottega’s. It’s cozy, but on weekend nights it positively buzzes with energy. (Read: It’s loud.)

Colette’s chef, Stefano Porcile, has spent time at Woodberry Kitchen and Fork & Wrench, so we were fairly certain his offerings would boast considerable invention. Sure enough, the menu is a playful roster of items you’d be hard-pressed to choose from, especially if you’re willing to experiment. The line gets a little blurred between small plates and entrees—several of which come in two sizes—so you could order, say, the smaller bowl of cream-based bourride swimming with oysters, mussels, and clams as an appetizer instead of the main event. Or you could allow a lovely spring appetizer of leeks, sunchokes, and pickled mushrooms bathed in mustard crème fraiche to accompany the entree of double lamb loin, flavored with preserved lemon and draped with beautifully braised Belgian endive.

We started with the delightful beignets and a small plate of fluke ceviche and bay leaf brown butter, assured by our waitress that this unlikely combination really worked. It did. Silky slides of the pristine fish sat atop a pool of warmed butter dusted with the smoky powdered pepper from Basque country known as espelette, the butter adding a rich, nutty note to the fish. Porcile switches things up with the duck confit as well, which surprised by arriving in a salad, its rich shards contrasting with the bitter, bright, and sweet flavors of watercress, pickled daikon, and apricot.

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GRUYÈRE BEIGNETS:
Deep-fried rounds of choux pastry and Gruyère are laced with chives, sprinkled with sea salt, and drizzled with honey, providing just the right balance of savory, salty, and sweet to accompany a Sazerac, a Colette signature cocktail boasting a similar Big Easy provenance.

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There’s a distinct emphasis on fish among the entrees, and the nights we visited, skate, hake, head-on shrimp, and that fluke were all on offer, as well as an inventive combo of grilled octopus and beef heart—a pairing this food adventurer eagerly jumped on. The dish playfully explores the similarities in texture between this odd couple, each of which gets a rap for being rubbery. Here, they’re toothsomely tender and simply served with a scattering of capers, olives, and roasted potatoes. We admired the willingness to push boundaries just as much as we admired the dish.

For dessert, we again put ourselves in the hands of our redoubtable young waitress. She confirmed our sense that the mousse cake would satisfy our endless craving for chocolate, which it did. A ribbon of crimson passion fruit purée divided the dense wedge of chocolate with its glossy topping of ganache—and yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.

For those who don’t live by chocolate, there’s a lovely pistachio crème brûlée and a roasted apple with honey cake, lavender, and lemon curd. At least, that was the lineup during a cold and rainy spring. Summer will doubtlessly bring berries, peaches, and other delights, which we’ll be eager to try when we’re not sampling the offerings around the corner at Bottega.

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COLETTE 1709 N. Charles St., 443-835-2945.
HOURS Sun.-Wed. 5-11 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. 5 p.m.-1 a.m.
CUISINE Modern French
PRICES Appetizers: $9-16; entrees: $17-36; desserts $8-12.
ATMOSPHERE Left Bank meets Station North.

When Bottega opened in Station North back in October of 2013, it accomplished a rare feat. From day one, it shot straight to the top of the restaurant charts and was on everyone’s gastronomic hit list. (We knighted Swiss-American owner Adrien Aeschliman “Best New Chef” in 2014.) Located along a shabby stretch of Maryland Avenue, this spectacular BYOB speck of a spot, with worn wood floors salvaged from a West Virginia barn, turned out innovative Italian countryside dishes in a simple setting. And even the coolest kids among us were willing to settle for a 5:30 p.m. reservation on a Tuesday night for the pure pleasure of a seat at one of the 11 tables.

So when owner Aeschliman, who spent time working in a trattoria in Tuscany’s Mugello Valley, announced that Bottega would close while he developed a second concept, fans eagerly awaited its return—to no avail. Summer turned to fall, and Bottega’s doors remained closed. The palate-weary diner in me, who has witnessed far too many openings and closings, believed that Bottega was gone for good. But come last Halloween, Bottega was open for business again.

After what Aeschliman calls “a long summer vacation”—during which he took time to make plans for his soon-to-be Station North French bistro, Colette—he reopened Bottega with brother-in-law Sandy Smith back in the kitchen.

Ordinarily, such a long break would be the death knell for even the most beloved of spots. Restaurant patrons are notoriously fickle. We fall in love, and we get the message when it looks like things are going south. Yes, it can be hard to have loved and lost, but these days there’s always somewhere new to go.

Thankfully, Bottega is not only back, but more charming than ever. In the interim, Aeschliman has reduced the number of tables from 11 to nine to keep the intimate vibe going strong, refinished some of the wood surfaces, and restructured the still-small chalkboard menu to refine the appetizers and appeal to more palates. On a menu largely revolving around pork, rabbit, and duck, fish has wisely been added to the roster. Entrees are now a la carte, and diners can mix and match with contorni (side dishes). Given the size of the menu, the offerings remain impressively creative and diverse. On any given night, you’ll find pappardelle with duck ragù, chicken-liver mousse with cherry jam and pickled mustard seeds, or pork shank with roasted turnips and bok choy.

Early on a Sunday evening, our party of four committed to almost every dish on the menu. When the grilled escarole with white bean and anchovy arrived—wilted, charred, bitter, and briny thanks to the white bean-and-anchovy dressing thick enough to support a spoon—we felt smug that we had intuited exactly the right appetizer to order. (“Good menu juju,” is what one of my dining companions called it.) But then the next dish arrived: baby carrots with an aura of cumin, coriander, and caraway, tossed with frisée-like shavings of Brussels sprouts and served on a bed of whipped ricotta. Before long, arguments broke out over which appetizer was better, but we soon called a truce and agreed they were equally astonishing. Then came several pasta dishes, including a hearty tagliatelle with an earthy boar ragù and the signature squash tortelli with fresh sage and pine nuts I recalled from a previous visit. Even my husband, gluten-free for more than 18 months now, went weak in the knees in the presence of these plates. (“This had better be worth it,” he muttered between forkfuls. By the end of the meal, he agreed, it had.)

When the entrees arrived, including a succulent duck two ways (a confit thigh, and a pan-seared breast), a whole bronzino stuffed with scallions and sprinkled with fat crystals of Maldon salt, and a seared lamb shoulder encrusted with rosemary and thyme, we continued our membership in the Clean Plate Club. The contorni were more of a centerpiece than a side note—from a mix of terrific tubers (sweet potatoes and sunchokes) to forest-fresh Trumpet mushrooms. At the end of our meal, we appreciated that the only dessert option was the trademark salted-caramel pie with chocolate glaze and Teddy Graham crust, since it saved us from difficult decision-making.

Throughout our meal, our server was cheerful and charming and quick to clear without making us feel rushed. My only complaint? Bottega doesn’t serve coffee. That said, as is the key with all lasting love, I’m willing to forgive—and forget. Welcome back, Bottega. Just promise that you’ll never leave me again.

It was love at first bite at Bottega as we swooned over the freshest pea shoots, creamiest farm cheese, ooziest marrow, and sweetest caramel. But, really, the charming BYOB captured our hearts as soon as we walked in the door. The storefront trattoria, along a forlorn slice of the Station North Arts District, impressed us immediately with its appealing cooking aromas from the open kitchen, intimate room (only 25 seats), and a gracious, welcoming host, who opened our wine as soon as he spotted it on our table. The brick walls, romantic candles, and shelves of worn cookbooks made us feel like we were eating dinner at a favorite foodie friend’s house.

The downside at Bottega is snagging a reservation at a typical dinnertime. The tables go quickly, and there is no place to wait if the place is packed. It can take six weeks to score a weekend seat, owner Adrien Aeschliman told us. But if 10 p.m. works for you, you’ll be in luck—or plan ahead.

We managed to reserve a spot on a weeknight but had to be there at 5:30 p.m. and were asked ahead of time if we could leave by 7 because a large party was expected. Normally, we would have been miffed at the time limit, but when we arrived, we realized the constraints of the place. And, honestly, we never felt rushed by our pleasant server during our meal, even when we ordered dessert.

The food is unpretentious and seriously good. Aeschliman wanted to re-create the dishes he grew up with in Tuscany, Italy, where his family lived part-time when they weren’t in residence in Switzerland. The Swiss-American landed in Baltimore four years ago when his wife attended nursing school here. There was nothing else like Bottega in town, says Aeschliman, who has a background in the front and back of restaurants. He opened his cozy eatery in October to immediate praise, placing his friend, Frederick “Sandy” Smith, in the kitchen as the chef.

The menu, written in chalk on a blackboard, changes often, so there’s always a reason to return—though we’re hoping, whining, and praying the marrow bones and oxtail stew with brioche toast and slabs of cheese shows up again. It was one of the best dishes we’ve had in a long time.

The other plates were contenders, too. Beet salads are ubiquitous these days, but Bottega’s is impressive with a mountain of tender pea shoots bolstering boulders of beets and dollops of chèvre. We also became quick fans of the crostini piled with creamy Winnimere cheese from a Vermont farm, sliced apples, and walnuts.

The spinach-and-ricotta malfatti were gnocchi-like morsels set in a seductive, fragrant butter-and-sage sauce and then showered in Grana Padano.

That night, we also opted for a hunk of mouthwatering hanger steak, prepared medium-rare as requested and thickly sliced to show its tawny beauty. It was served with a generous mound of peppery cress.

It’s the type of menu where you also might find beef cheeks, beef-heart tartare, or smoked lamb neck at the chef’s whim. On our visit, other items included chicken with rutabaga mash and duck breast with faro and carrots.

Desserts can range from flavored panna cottas to a pignoli cookie plate. We couldn’t bear to leave Bottega without trying one of the sweets, even if our time was running out. There were only two desserts offered—rice-pudding brûlée and a salted-caramel-and-chocolate pie. Repeat after us: Order the pie. This is one of most luscious interpretations of the salty-sweet flavors you’ll find.

We weren’t surprised that we adored our last bite as much as our first taste of the appetizers. Bottega woos its diners with a deft hand and deceptive simplicity. Be prepared to fall in love.