La poule Français! Review – The French Hen at Vast.bank By Michael P. Taubman

Review – The French Hen at Vast.bank

By Michael P. Taubman

In this next episode, our virtual travel experience with friends through our taste buds led us to a new, old place. The French Hen for over 40 years has been in the core of Tulsa’s fine dining cuisine. Restauranteur Terry Turner first opened around 1979, later sold to Dick Clark (father of chef Richard Clark) in 2001, before coming to rest in the talented hands of Kathy Bondy, the current owner since 2011. Most know this restaurant by the longstanding location of The French Hen & Wine Bistro at 71st & Yale in the Lighthouse Shopping Center. However, you go try the new location of The French Hen in the Vast.bank building at 3rd & Archer. Strolling at night past the glass enclosed dining establishment, the warm lights and the rich design of the room draws you into the restaurant. The room provided ample distancing from other patrons, with reduced seating capacity, which, as of the time of writing this, may one day be a thing of the past and return to full capacity. We joined our friends for dinner, seated in a booth across from the bar. The French Hen’s cocktail menu listed about ten different concoctions, which all looked tasty. My wife elected to start off with dessert, ordering the Chocolate Martini, while I, being more oriented to bourbon, dove into their Old Fashioned. The Old Fashioned, while a simple recipe, gets mangled by some bartenders who confuse their muddling and mixing; however, the French Hen’s Old Fashioned did not suffer this problem. The first sip was as consistently tasteful as the next one. One of our companions ordered from their beer selection, while the other chose to test the wine. They offer wine selections by both the bottle and the glass. Their list goes beyond my limited knowledge of wines, but our companion, who has a more expansive palate for wine than I, remarked on the selections and availability on their menu. However, the delivery of the drinks, considering we were seated at a booth directly across from the bar, met with some delays. Our drinks reached the table at different times instead of being served together at once, with the Chocolate Martini arriving first, followed by the Old Fashioned, the beer and then the wine. This seemed uncharacteristic of a precise, fine dining experience when all drinks were ordered at the same time on a night that did not seem busy. My dining companions disagreed with my suggestion of Escargot for the appetizer… c’est la vie, so I succumbed to the group decision to order the Shrimp, Scallop and Crab Cheesecake. Being overruled was the right call, this dish was magnifique! The crisp, salty flavor of the onion rings that accompany the seafood cheesecake with the drizzle of balsamic reduction over them gave this dish wonderful complexity. Also, we enjoyed an order of the Fried Oysters, with the creamed spinach and Pernod sauce, which made a nice, shareable companion appetizer. Few restaurants in Tulsa include Osso Bucco on their menu, which makes it a treat to find. The French Hen’s Osso Bucco Buccatini presented over a bed of pasta, soaking in the braising broth, and the meat pulled from the bone with the most delicate of touch. Another at our table ordered the Roasted Atlantic Salmon served with grilled pears and a seafood cream, and this did not disappoint either from

the few bites I was allowed (sharing is caring). The salmon arrived at a nice temperature, not dry, and the pears gave a pleasant sweetness to the taste of the sea. The more traditional diner among us chose the Prime Beef Ribeye, which appeared cooked exactly to the medium rare temperature requested as evidenced by the pink color and juices flowing from the dish. The menu includes many other dishes that sounded as delicious as they looked passing by our table to the other patrons, so those will wait for another time. There’s only so much room in the tank, and we wanted to try the desserts. Since no-one wanted to go it alone at this point in the meal, we joined forces, choosing the Berry Crème Brûlée and the Espresso Chocolate Mousse to end our visit. First, the Espresso Chocolate Mousse gives the feeling in the mouth that you just sipped a demitasse cup of espresso. The bitterness of coffee flavor sits comfortably alongside the smooth texture of the chocolate mousse as if they know each other passionately. Meanwhile, the sweet custard of the crusty crème brûlée pairs well with the tart flavor of the raspberries and juicy blueberries in the Berry Crème Brûlée. Both desserts do justice to the rest of the meal. The décor and the food make for a perfect romantic outing or upscale business dinner setting. The French Hen at Vast.bank brought the gavel down on the scales of justice with a rating of 4.5 of 5.