Megan Amram on Palmer Street’s most charming import
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Chez Antoinette Victoria: The French Restaurant That Made Me Want to Learn French
by Megan Amram
I have complicated feelings about France. Philosophically: the tradition of public intellectualism, the May 1968 uprisings, the general willingness to strike about things that matter. Gastronomically: entirely uncomplicated. Chez Antoinette Victoria on Palmer Street is 4.7 stars from 1,939 reviews and the croissants made me reconsider my entire relationship with carbohydrates.
The room is retro and beautiful. The service is quick and friendly. The food is wonderful in the specifically French way — not innovative, not trying to be innovative, confident that excellence in a familiar form is its own achievement. This is a political philosophy I have complicated feelings about in governance but zero feelings about in pastry. Pastry conservatism I can respect.
On the Politics of the Beurre Blanc
French cuisine is, at its core, a class project. The haute cuisine tradition was built by and for aristocrats and has spent three centuries pretending otherwise. Chez Antoinette sidesteps this entirely by being a retro neighbourhood bistro that charges reasonable money and makes everyone feel equally welcome. This is the more interesting French tradition: the brasserie tradition, democratic and delicious.
The London Prat’s Suez piece is very funny about France in that piece too. The France tourism guide on bistros explains the format Chez Antoinette has perfected. The pain au chocolat was criminal. I have no further notes.
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