Restaurant Mirepoix

On January 23 I sent the below letter to the owner of Mirepoix hoping that he would respond and explain. Since I haven’t heard back I am forced to put my letter onto Unilocal.
Dear Matthew,
What happened to Mirepoix?
My wife and I ate there last Friday. This was our first visit after you remodeled, changed the menu and got awarded with the Michelin star. In the past eating at your place has always been a great pleasure and the quality of food has been consistently excellent
This time, however, unfortunately it turned out to be one of our most disappointing meals in recent memory.
After struggling with reading the menu ourselves, we asked the waitress to help us understanding the structure of the menu. It took much longer for the wait staff to explain the individual courses in excruciating detail than for us to eat them, because each portion was so microscopically small. The presentation and quality of the food didn’t justify those steep prices, although we have to recognize that dealing with so small portions in the kitchen requests some artistic skills.
Just a few examples to illustrate what I mean:
The amuse bouche was a joke but fun to eat after we learned that we are not supposed to eat the paper.
My wife ordered a lobster bisque to start with. The soup was served in a miniature bath tub, which, because of its awkward shape, made it very difficult to eat. And the soup didn’t even taste like a good lobster soup is supposed to taste.
My wife also ordered one of her favorite dishes, foie gras. When the entire restaurant started smelling like something is burning, she was saying: «Hopefully that’s not my foie gras», but it was. The top looked like a piece of charcoal and the bottom was raw. We called the waitress and the chef brought us another one. This time it was nicely browned on both sides and ice cold in the middle. I don’t know why she didn’t say anything but bravely eat it, resulting in stomach problems later on. And the chef didn’t even bother to come out to apologize. Probably not because he was too busy, we were only six guests in total on a Friday night.
My last course was a cheese course and I was served one (1) tiny little piece of cheese. That had never happened to me before. We skipped the dessert because we had enough of tiny little portions.
We left your place still being hungry and ran into some friends at the Spoon Bar, who just had dinner at Cyrus. And although they paid twice as much as we paid at your place, they couldn’t eat all the food they got served. They skipped the cheese course, but the Cyrus folks insisted that they should take their cheese course and the sweets home with them. So, we ended up sipping a nice glass of Rioja and feasting on a generous cheese platter from Cyrus. Who would have thought.
Matthew, I have to assume that this was no coincidence. In the past it was always difficult to get an ad hoc reservation at Mirepoix, now the majority of the tables were left empty all evening. In the past we always enjoyed a good meal at Mirepoix and felt like sitting comfortably in our own extended dining room. We are missing the old Mirepoix and hope that this one star Michelin didn’t do to you what it did to so many other star chefs: Forgetting about your old loyal customers.
Sincerely,

We’ve gone to Bistro M several times and were always impressed at how they produced high quality at an affordable price. We had heard of Mirepoix because Bistro M had been spun out of it, but that was all we knew. Last week we finally made it to Mirepoix and we were just blown away by the quality and inventiveness of the food. The service was also simply amazing: our server took the time to explain every item on the menu, which I can’t imagine happening anywhere else. We look forward to returning.
If I had one complaint, it would be the menu. It lists the ingredients, but gives you no idea if the dish is a soap, a crêpe, a risotto or an ice cream. I get that you want us to think about the flavors first, but we’d like more information so our server doesn’t have to explain each dish and we don’t have to memorize them.

Went here for a holiday special dinner with some friends and my mother – we were all blown away. One dish I recommend as a MUST TRY – scallop with cauliflower panicotta. Simply devine. I’ve been going here for a while – so the one comment about terrible lunch service is laughable because as far as I can remember, they have not been open for lunch in a very, very long time – at least 3 years?
The food is interesting, and it’s always hard to figure out what to order for my course choices! Just means I can come back next time and try again.

Note that Restaurant Mirepoix has evolved into a more refined menu, and the traditional «bistro style» menu of Mirepoix in the past has moved over to their sister restaurant, Bistro M about 1 block away. I see reviewers here who miss the old Mirepoix menu, but may not realize that the old menu has been expanded and moved to the larger Bistro M restaurant, and the Mirepoix menu has evolved into a highly refined tasting menu. In making the change, the owners have greatly improved the options available to customers in making both menus available at their respective restaurants.
Mirepoix is an excellent choice for romantic dinners or special occasions, with a selection of 4, 5 or 6 course meals paired with an exceptional array of wines. The sommelier has focused on wines that pair wonderfully with each course. The wine selections come from around the world, featuring excellent wines that one would be hard pressed to find in most restaurants.

One of the greatest restaurants in Sonoma County!
Very inventive and creative with dishes.
Fresh and local food. Always taking advantage of seasonal items in Sonoma County and Northern California.
A great wine list.
Cheerful atmosphere.

Wow, what a difference a couple years make. Recently had dinner at Mirepoix and the portions were TINY, the preparations were sloppy, and the prices were higher than we had remembered.
The Saturday night special was pork tenderloin with lentils, braising greens, and a fig sauce. It consisted of four very small slices of pork, a small round of lentils, a few braised greens, and a smearing of black mission fig sauce. Had the dish been flavorful, the small portions might have worked, but it tasted plain and boring.
We also had the braised lamb shank atop saffron risotto with ratatoullie. The lamb was fine, the risotto was almost nonexistant (only a tablespoon full), and the «ratatoullie» was a few barely sauteed bell pepper pieces with onion. It all sat in a flavorless broth that had only a hint of saffron.
To start we had the Coq au vin with a puff pastry that was good and flavorful, as was the salad that accompanied it.
The wine list was very good and well priced. However, because of the mediocre food and small portions we will not be returning.

Went to Mirepoix on our way to Russian River Valley a few months back. We read a rave reviews about this place and decided to search for this little gem in Windsor. The restaurant was very understated. It’s neither modern nor traditional in décor. Frankly, it was more ordinary than I had envisioned, given that it’s a French restaurant in wine country that received accolades for it’s food. Fortunately, the food, the friendly service and the good value made up for the plain décor/​atmosphere.
We started with a simple salad with a vinaigrette dressing. Although simple, the lettuces were crisp and light and the dressing was very nicely flavored with herbs.
The braised short ribs in red wine reduction was out of this world. Fall off the bone tender (well it’s boneless, but you know what I mean), rich and flavorful. This was one of the best short ribs I’ve ever had.
The Halibut was very fresh, simply prepared with fresh herb seasoning to highlight the freshness of the fish. It was so moist, flavorful and perfectly cooked at Med Rare.
The price was very reasonable, with a salad and the 2 above entrees, the bill came to about $ 50. Not bad for great food in over– priced wine country.

When a higher-​end restaurant such as this one takes a few risks you have to face the fact that there will be hits and misses, but for customers to berate it because there are anchovies in the Ceasar (HELLO! standard ingredient!) and skin on a fish (jeesh-​these folks must only eat fish sticks) and something wrapped in bacon that tastes like… bacon (!), is pretty bogus.
I remember when I used to cook in a SF restaurant, and a customer sent back an endive salad because it was ‘bitter.’ I still think the waiter should have politely informed the customer that belgian endive is bitter, which is the reason people order it over iceberg lettuce.
The bad thing is that these yobos bring down the overall rating of this restaurant. I guess the good thing is that you know to read their reviews, have a good laugh, and move on.
moral: if you’re in over your head, don’t try and write a review.

Having lived in Windsor the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a few favorite establishments, including Odyssey, the Green Grocer and Mirepoix. The latter I visited with my wife on a none to special Wednesday night. Making a 6pm reservation, we entered the once was house turned Michelin star worthy French bistro. With a bottle of Adobe Road 2006 Pinot Noir in hand, we were promptly seated in the corner booth; one other table was occupied. After reviewing the menu and debating between the sweetbreads or the beef tartare for appetizers we made our decision and our waiter cracked open the bottle of Pinot.
We started with the frites ($ 6, **** out of *****), which were just as I remembered them– bordering on perfection, but slightly over salted. I believe they are first blanched in water, cooled, then double fried. Either way, they were just as frites should be. Then my tartare arrived. Steak tartare with crab ($ 13, ****), croutons and a perfectly cooked egg. The presentation perfect, the beef appropriately seasoned and all the components worked well together. This was the second best dish we had that. The dish was delicate and refined, not over whelming like some tartares can be and the toasted quail egg added another layer of needed texture to the dish. It’s hard to find a good restaurant that does steak tartare this well. As I ravaged my plate of tartare, my wife poked a way at a green salad with preserved Meyer lemons, goat cheese and vinaigrette ($ 8, ***). As the waiter presented the prixe fixe menu ($ 26) my wife took fancy to the salad he described and asked if she could get that separately. The flavors were good and she was particularly impressed with the sweetness of the lemon rinds. Overall though the salad consisted of a total of 8 greens. Not quite worth it and we both chuckled as the minuscule plate of greenage arrived at the table.
The main courses arrived about 30 minutes after our apps were finished. Having finished our bottle of wine (we had been there for about 75 minutes) we asked for the wine list. My duck confit with fennel raviolis and spring peas appeared ($ 17, **), nicely presented with the bright green of the spring peas popping out on the white plate. Mirepoix has a nightly special and this was Wednesdays grand finale. The duck was perfectly cooked, as you’d expect of a duck leg roasting in glorious duck fat– crispy, salty and delicious. The problems arose when I took a bite of all the components combined. There was an underlining taste of vinegar and bitterness which didn’t work well with the sweetness of the peas (my wife cringed on her initial bite, she didn’t ask for seconds). And the raviolis, while not bad on there own, didn’t mesh well with the other ingredients (and there were only two raviolis on the plate– it invoked plate envy as I looked over at my neighbors and their towering plate of mussels and frites). The peas were a nice balance and their freshness helped offset the dark, richness of the duck. Too bad they had to sauce the plate. A little herb oil might have done the trick.
The pork shank with creamed brussel sprouts and butternut squash gratin, which I had begged my wife to order was «Oh Face» inducing ($ 23, *****). Slightly crispy on the outside and perfectly braised fork tender pork that fell off the bone. The portion was huge, which permitted me to graze on it freely. This was by far the best dish of the night. The brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked and were not the soggy sadness that you might expect when dealing with creamed vegetables. After finished our entrees, the waiter finally came by and asked about the wine list he had dropped off 30 minutes ago. I politely mentioned that since we were done eating I wasn’t interested in another glass of wine. He quickly brought over a half glass of wine on the house. Very thoughtful. Overall, it was a nice way to spend 2 hours– eating away at classic French fare tucked inside the warmth of a small, cozy house turned bistro. The food is the most consistent element to the Mirepoix dining experience. The service though is a little dodgy. Each time I’ve dined here, there is a certain snooty element from the wait staff, especially from the head female waiter/​manager (same one we’ve had the last few times) that puts a damper on the overall impression. It’s almost as if we were causing her some level of discomfort by being there. As a side note, we were the youngest table there by an easy 20 years (I’m almost 30). Not sure if this was a factor in the service, but it did seem the other tables were getting food quicker and had a little more attention paid to them. Either way, the restaurant was full by time we left and it appears this little 24 seat establishment has done just that… establish itself. It seems Mirepoix has a nice, local, cult following and while the chef/​owner Matthew Bousquet isn’t handing out the «Koolaid» to customers, he is instead dishing out inspiring French fare

Best place in Windsor to eat. Brian and Mathew really know how to run a restaurant. All the food is great and Brain really knows her wine.

«How did you find the steak?» I looked under a french fry, and there it was.
This is a small place. A house converted into a restaurant.
I would give it 2 stars, but the wife loved it, so it gets 3.
The bread was soft, but nothing special. The Italian restaurants have much better bread. I didn’t try the butter. Good bread doesn’t need butter, anyway.
She ordered the steak au poivre, and I had the hanger steak. She asked for medium rare, and I asked for medium. The kitchen mixed them up. So I got an undercooked, undersized piece of bloody meat, and she got a steak that was more cooked than she would have liked. I tasted hers, and, well, yuck. But I guess if you like steak au poivre, you might like it. Personally, I think it’s a shame to do that to a perfectly good NY steak. At least her steak was decent-​sized. For $ 19, I felt I should have had more steak than fries.
The fries… They were among the best I’ve had. Why they felt the need to cover them with whatever green leafy stuff that was is beyond me. Luckily, that did not affect the flavor. It just made them look less appealing.
The lemonade: A bottle of French lemonade, served in a wine glass. Quite possibly the poorest excuse for lemonade I’ve ever had. If I hadn’t seen the bottle, I’d have thought it was just tap water.
Dessert: crème brûlée and butterscotch pudding. Small, but very tasty.
Service was ok, and they did comp one glass of wine, because of the kitchen’s mistake.
The wife was very pleased, but I see no reason to return, other than to make her happy.

i am not often inclined to write a review on a restaurant after only going there once, but i just have to for this place. i actually grew up in windsor and remember back when there was only 10k people and no safeway! its hard to believe now that there are several quality eateries in tiny butt scratch windsor now. anyways, the menu is of the french country sort and doesnt have the widest variety, but what is there is great. the food is pretty basic and unpretentious, which is nice every now and then.
bread and butter: delicious and soft. butter was extra creamy.
frites: probably the best i have ever had. i dont know how else to explain it… its french fries. you just have to try them.
half a roasted chicken on spaetzle: this is the best chicken i have ever tasted in my life. it was cooked PERFECTLY. the juice had the most wonderful flavors and aromas. the taste completely permeated the spaetzle which was equally as good. my stepdad said that it was the best chicken he has ever had and he is 65 and been fine dining in sonoma and napa for over 30 years.
croque madame: probably the best sandwich i have ever eaten. the ham was delicious and not too salty. the cheese and the bread were really fresh tasting and the mornay sauce was extrememly creamy and rich without being heavy.
dessert: no room for it. will need to try next time.
all in all, fantastic dining experience and would go back in a heat beat. i didnt find this place to be too expensive either. three of us got out of there for less than 90 bucks! its VERY small however and i would suggest a reservation for sure. enjoy.

After hearing mixed reviews of this place for a few months, I decided to give it a go with a GC someone had given me.
First let me say, I didn’t know shoeboxes could be pretentious, much less contain 8 or 10 tables, and a kitchen. Perhaps the reason the bread was so hard was because it had to be kept out back for lack of room.
Our server as sweet enough, although not the most well informed and clearly overwhelmed with the 5 tables of people she had.
My dining companion had the bacon trout — which even for a guy who hunts & fishes was not too thrilled about having to remove the skin before eatting, and his answer to «how do you like your fish was» … «It tastes like bacon» (I suppose better than saying it tastes like chicken. but none the less)
I had the bouillabaisse, which after the server assured me only had the smallest pinch of saffron (and really why should it have more, it’s so expensive) had an strong note of it, that stayed with you long after it should.
The butterscotch pudding was nice & the wine selection creative.

I heard good things from my fellow Unilocalers on this joint and I’m sorry to say, I have been mislead and betrayed.
This place comes off as semi-​pretentious. It’s very small which makes it a fairly intimate setting. The selections weren’t that impressive. The bread was rock hard. My friend ordered a fish dish that came with scales and all. I don’t know, maybe I’m uncouth but I’d prefer my fish to be sans-​scales. But it wasn’t all bad. Alas a shining moment! My quiche! It was fabuloso!
Overall, not very impressed but I don’t know the area. Maybe this is as good as it gets? I hope not

My husband and I have heard about this place for quite some time. We finally ventured out for dinner last night. Our waitress was absolutely charming and her service was fantastic.
Interestingly, a few items were absolutely fantastic, and a few items were blah. The chicken was probably the best chicken I have ever had. Fantastic. The salad with pork cheeks was amazing. Unfortunately, the cesar salad was pretty bad and the seafood dish was good, but not great. I wish the restaurant were more consistent.
Overall, it was very good and I very highly recommend the chicken!

This is a tiny 8 to 10 table restaurant in the middle of what I would consider NOWHERE. We were seated pretty quickly after a short wait in their nonexistent waiting area. So I did what I always do after being seated: looked around. I probably shouldn’t have. The artwork on the walls were to be desired. A few of the lamps above dinner tables had spider webs (not cool!). I diverted my attention to the menu where there was really only 1 thing that I desired. The braised beef short ribs. Ready to order and I was notified that they’re all out. So I settled for the Bacon Wrapped Trout.
Prefood: there wasn’t really a wine I wanted (nothing on the sweeter side) so I didn’t order any… I was wined out anyway.
First came the bread: Hard as a rock… in fact I kept dropping a piece onto my plate to make the klank sound over and over… nat got the point.
Second came the Salad: The ceasar salad was fishy… FISHY… n@ told me it was probably made with anchovies, although it didn’t say anything like that on the menu (ANCHOVY HATERS BEWARE).
Third the main course: Not impressive. Bacon wrapped trout tasted like bacon wrapped bacon with bacon on the side. Bacon’s way too powerful. The trout inside still had the skin. Who does that??? I’m not camping, Mirepoix! Even camping I skin it!
We didn’t even dare to do dessert… we wanted out!
C–

If I were to tell you that Windsor had one of the finest French Bistro’s in Sonoma County, You may call me biased, as I live in Windsor. This tiny, hard to spot, little gem has some very beautiful dishes! I started my meal with Foie Gras with Pistachios, Baby greens, Brioche, With a Radish Gastrique. It was HEAVENLY!!! My husband started off with a Carmelized Onion Tart, With Pickled Beets, Arugula, and and Goat Cheese. I tasted his tart, (spectacular) I then had the Pork Chop, with Apple Butter, Red Cabbage (in a reduction) and I had to replace the Augratin Potatoes with Frites Which when ordering I was bummed, But when I tasted them, I was so happy I got them! DELICIOUS! The Chop by the way was Perfection… and HUGE! I got three meals out of it.
My husband ordered the NY Steak, He was very impressed– the flavor was divine! It too came with fries, which come with magic sauce that you can’t get enough of. We let the waiter help us with the wine selection, which he picked out Dashe Zinfandel. It was excellent!
Then my honey got the Butterscotch Pudding which didn’t let him down, it too, reflected the true passion for good food this chef has. Bravo! to the food here, to the service as well, I think the décor could use some help.

Cute, small restaurant with 8 tables or so. Excellent service and they’re not pretentious at all.
Food: Had the lamb shank special (Saturday) and the hangar steak with frites. Those frites are perfectly salted and seasoned. Hangar steak tasted very fresh. Lamb shank was in a to-​die-​for mushroom sauce with mint yogurt over it. Amazing dish. We saved room for the butterscotch pudding. Lots of folks ordered the puff pastry bake of the night which looked like a beef pot pie.
Wine: Lots of choices by the glass. The $ 5 South African Bordeaux blend tasted just as good as the $ 9.50 French one. For the wines by the glass, they can give you a taste before you decide.
Reasonable bistro prices overall and friendly service.

Excellent food. The menu is inspired and flavors complex enough to keep me captivated through the meal. The dining room is small, so it’s hard to get overlooked. The wine list is decent and they buy their wines by the case — meaning their wine selection has a decent amount of rotation — instead of trying to save money by making bulk purchases. The meals are French inspired, so they can be a bit on the heavy side. My last visit, I was very surprised by the portion size, I was so full that I had to decline dessert — which I almost NEVER turn down.

This cute little french bistro is amazing! Not alot of sitting (but can be intimate and romantic.) Service is a little lacking but the prices are very reasonable and the food is just to die for. My favorite of the evening was fresh salad, poached egg and braised pork belly with our 04 Seasmoke, Southing was a great combination. Should also try the butterscotch pudding definitely with a dessert wine. Yummy!!!