TAKE ONE
Tabree wears the bistro title well
By Kevin Purdy; photos by kc kratt

Diver scallops.
Hard at work in Tabree's kitchen.
Tabree’s profiteroles—
tiny, gelato-stuffed pastries.
The Elmwood bistro's bar.
Tabree, the eatery now open in the former Astoria space on Buffalo’s Elmwood Avenue, takes up the mantle of bistro knowingly and faithfully. The menu is seasonal, the focus is on slow-cooked classics and comfort food, the patio is beautiful, and if you just need an excuse to chat and drink good wine, rather than a Serious Dinner Event, Tabree puts out some serious, if less substantial, salads and sandwiches. In other words, it’s an elegant restaurant—the first Merriam-Webster definition, not the over-used one that often runs hand-in-hand with “gaudy.”

My wife and I arrived in early September, just when the odds on a pleasant outdoor meal hover around fifty-fifty in Western New York. The staff was able to move our reservation inside with little hassle, although I’d heard a friend was moved outside without asking later that month, to arm-rubbing effect.

Tabree’s furniture and fixtures stick to a dark-wood, minimally accented Parisian theme. There are small tables arranged around the inviting wood bar, chairs and a wall-long bench (with clever use of throw pillows), and not a lot of places I could imagine seating more than eight people without shutting down a room. The ambience works, though, in that it’s easy to forget there’s anyone involved in dinner except you, your companions, and an attentive waiter.

My wife started her meal with diver scallops, served with ample portions of crab meat and avocado, along with a puree of tomatoes and grilled artichokes. My complaint about the under-cooked artichokes fell on deaf ears across the table. She could only say the scallops were a little salty for her taste—the hefty mollusks had a beautifully seared crust and came off the pan with a perfect texture. The crab meat almost felt unnecessary, but it certainly disappeared.

I chose a salad from the specials list of poached pear slices, brie cheese, almonds, and dried cranberries served over field greens with a pear vinaigrette. It was a slight spin on a now-classic combination, and it worked.

Having made an impromptu pact not to do the obvious thing and order steak frites (or even a side of frites with mayonnaise), we gravitated to slow-oven platters. I took the duck breast rolled with apples, raisins, bread, root vegetables, and spinach in a roulade, served with an apple and brandy reduction. My wife chose a braised beef shank with Vichy-sauced carrots, mashed potatoes, haricot vert (fancy-restaurant-speak for green beans) and topped with bordelaise (dry red wine sauce).

Dinner didn’t arrive right away—and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Lately, review dates and special occasions have felt like attending Taste of Dinner sampling events, just with bigger plates. At Tabree, water and wines arrived promptly, servers stayed out of the way while the food was out, and we had time to actually enjoy our wine and trade opinions between dishes. Not so great if you’re stuck in halting conversation, but ample chance to enjoy the heady tannins on a 2006 Patriarche burgundy, or the slightly spicy finish on a 2006 Cotes du Rhone from Domaine de la Guicharde. When dinner arrived, the server asked, but didn’t plead, to refill our glasses.

My roulade worked just the way it should have, with the vegetables and fruits suffused with the game bird’s succulence, and returning to it a blend of rich and hearty flavors. In fact, it might have been the first time I had to remind myself to not fill up on vegetables—there was, in fact, duck to be eaten. My wife realized too late that her scallops, nearly the size of a diver’s fist, kept her from getting too far into her entree. Everything was cooked just right, though, and even the microwaved leftovers were tender the next day. We were convinced we could tackle desserts, so we opted for French classics: crème brûlée and profiteroles. I ate the majority of the tiny gelato-stuffed pastries, and found myself mostly enjoying chocolate. They don’t look easy to make, but I’d suggest a stronger vanilla flavor to balance out the overwhelming flavor of the dough. The crème brûlée was good and seared—their torch worker was on point that night—and otherwise just, well, good. With two appetizers each, glasses of wine, full entrees, and desserts, our meal came to just over $100. You can certainly get away with cheaper here—a friend noted that the steak frites sandwich more than qualifies as a meal. So Tabree is a cozy spot that serves good food for lighter meals or dinner, with an emphasis on slow-cooked, time-tested French fare. If Buffalo had its own mass-edited encyclopedia, I’d proudly link it from the entry for “bistro”—and maybe “Great First Date Spots” as well.

Tabree, 423 Elmwood Ave.
Buffalo, 844-8477

Kevin Purdy is a freelance writer and associate editor at Lifehacker.com. He lives in Buffalo.


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