Les Deux Garçons

Les Deux Garcons was set up in late 2021 by Jean-Christophe Slowik and Robert Reid, both of whom have history with Marco Pierre White and the legendary Wandsworth restaurant Harveys. Mr Slowwik was restaurant manager at Harveys. After Harveys, Marco opened The Restaurant Marco Pierre White at The Hyde Park Hotel in 1993 (gaining 3 stars in 1995), and moved to Le Meridien Piccadilly in 1997, the restaurant being renamed The Oak Room after the listed banqueting hall that it moved into. Robert Reid was head chef at Marco’s Oak Room, during which time it held three Michelin stars until its closure in 2002 after losing its third star in 1999. Mr Reid later worked at Balthazar after having learned his trade at prestigious restaurants such as Au Crocodile, Moulins de Mougins and Joel Robuchon’s fabulous Jamin in Paris. Les 2 Garcons offers more down to earth fare, with bistro classic like French onion soup and snails with garlic butter, offered in a dining room that seats just 22 diners. The restaurant is located just off the Broadway in Crouch End, with a ground floor dining room. There is a private dining room upstairs too. Robert Reid works with five chefs and two kitchen porters in a small kitchen.

The wine list had 36 labels and ranged in price from £32 to £165, with a median price of £57 and an average markup to retail price of just over 3 times, which is pretty fair by London standards. Sample references were Domaine Nicolas Croze Les 3 Grains Côtes du Rhône 2022 at £36 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £10, Château Rahoul 2018 at £68 compared to its retail price of £29, and Domaine JM Pillot Santenay Les Champs Claude 2021 at £90 for a wine that will set you back £30 in the high street. For those with the means there was Domaine Michelot Meursault Sous la Velle 2019 at £155 compared to its retail price of £70, and Domaine Pichat les Grandes Places Cote Rôtie 2016 at £165 for a wine whose current market value is £83. Corkage was a reasonable £31.50, the price of the house wine. This is how a corkage policy should be: no labyrinthine rules or extortionate prices. Some London restaurants charge £100 now plus assorted petty restrictions and exclusions, which is getting absurd. 

There were several special dishes of the day for each course on blackboards on the wall in addition to the printed menu. This format meant that you had to stand up, walk around the dining room and peer over other diners to read the boards, which is maybe not ideal in a small room, though the atmosphere is quite relaxed here and the affected diners seemed untroubled. Still, why not just print a piece of paper each night? I guess it adds to the bistro feel. 

Warm foie gras on apple tart with caramelised onion (£18) was simply superb. The slab of foie gras was smooth and rich, without even a hint of vein, while the pastry was excellent. A topping of finely chopped herbs provided some much-needed balance for the rich liver, as did the sharpness of the apple. The onions were nicely caramelised and brought an extra flavour. This dish was really packed with flavour and was a shining example of how a (relatively) simple dish can be elevated to a higher level by technical skill (16/20).

Duck confit with puy lentils (£23) came with some salad leaves to balance out the richness of the duck. This was a glorious, old-fashioned   rich dish, the duck being extremely tender and the earthy flavour of the lentils a lovely complement to the meat (15/20).I went for an optional cheese course (£11), and the St Maure and Comte served were decent rather than top-notch. I feel that there is scope for improvement in this area.  Apple tart fine (£10), served hot, was a pretty and enjoyable dessert, the pastry having good texture and the acidity of the apples balancing the richness of the pastry. Some good vanilla ice cream completed the dish (15/20). 

Coffee was AllPress, which is one of the best of the high street providers. Service was friendly on this very busy service. The bill for one person came to £120. If you ordered three courses and shared a modest bottle of wine then a likely bill per person would be around £100. This seems entirely fair to me given the high quality of the cooking on display. This is the kind of neighbourhood restaurant we would all love to have near us. The residents of Crouch End are very lucky.