We were a party of four visiting Le Rendez-vous for the first time last Friday, June 8th. We were pretty excited as it was my wife's and my 10th wedding anniversary dinner. We got married at Le Central in Denver, and had a wonderful meal for our party of 50 guests after the ceremony, replete with a pate board: four pates and various pickles, including cornichons.
We are great fans of French food, and have eaten at French restaurants all over the world. Le Rendez-vous falls far short of the high end, but I credit them for their effort and persistence as they appear to be the only French restaurant in Tucson, and have been in business for several years.
The menu itself is a laminated piece of paper, instead of a booklet. All of our menus were sticky, obviously not wiped clean in who knows how long. The wine list is short, but reasonably priced. They do not offer corkage, so that patrons can bring their own wine. This is foolish in my opinion, as we would have gladly paid $20 to $30 per bottle to bring our own wine.
We had a Taittinger Brut NV which was very good, a Sancerre which was quite good and a La Crema Pinot Noir which was also very good.
Service was friendly but slow, a bit uncoordinated which is odd for a white tablecloth restaurant. We had to pour our own wine, ask for water, and conversation was entirely initiated on our part, not theirs.
Food: there were some stars but sadly too many stumbles. First and foremost, they had no pate that evening. I cannot describe how disappointed we were, especially my wife and the other lady in our group. The waiter said they made it too late, and it had not set. For a Friday night? Seriously?
The stars were the escargots, brie en croute, vichysoisse, onion soup, moules Provencale, and the demi-glace sauce. Demi-glace is an effort to make from scratch, but its essence is also available in a jar. Either way, their demi-glace was seriously good. The escargots were not over-seared, as is often the case, the vichysoisse was fluffy, savory, and refreshing, and the mussels were fresh and tasty, as was their broth. The brie had a light crispy crust and a soft, semi-melted texture.
My ris de veau, veal sweetbreads, were good, but a little overcooked. Our Chateaubriand was quite overcooked. We ordered it rare and it came out medium well. The server was not accustomed to the precise carving style for the meat, and his carving knife, although the right kind of knife, was obviously not sharp. He struggled to carve the steak. The Bearnaise sauce was just okay, it had the texture of mayonnaise instead of the smooth, gravy-like flow of a proper Bearnaise (or Hollandaise for that matter). Fortunately the demi-glace/bordelaise sauce was spooned over the meat, adding considerable flavor.
The sides were forgettable. The potatoes Anna were a disaster, hard and chewy on top and soft on the bottom. The steamed squash were just that, steamed squash, like you could get at a Cracker Barrel.
We ordered the souffle for dessert, two to share amongst the four of us. I was surprised by how quickly they came out. It usually takes a half an hour to make a souffle. There was no powdered sugar on top, another oddity, and the taste was very eggy. I give this dish an A for quickness but a C- for taste. I would have been happier to see them take another ten to fifteen minutes and deliver a really wonderful souffle.
No Armagnac for post-prandial liqueur. The waiter offered a VSOP Calvados when I asked if they had any. I did not ask for a Cognac. I finished my Pinot Noir, and that was our meal.
There was one other thing that detracted from the ambiance of the restaurant. Like the sticky menus, there was an archway into the kitchen from the dining room with curtains, but the curtains weren't drawn such that you could see the plastic crates for glasses, the stainless steel shelving and sink, etc. An unpleasant sight in what is supposed to be an elegant restaurant.
So why did I give Le Rendez-vous three stars and not fewer? They're trying. I gave them one star for effort, and two stars for food and service. read more