Terrific Takeout: Petite Abeille Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Owner Adyl Bennani holding the inspiration behind the restaurant: Petite Abeille books from Belgium
The delicious Steak au Poivre with BELGIAN fries:
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It's not who you know, it's Whom You Know and we're glad to know our friends Alexis and Thibaut, so we expanded our culinary horizons and have now added a new nationality of cuisine: Belgian! Petite Abeille is a Belgian restaurant and this is our first visit and it's the first Belgian spot to be reviewed we believe. We were delighted to work with owner Adyl Bennani, who co-owns Petite Abeille with Yves Jadot, Christophe Jadot and David Jadot. All owners hail from Belgium so you can be assured of the authenticity. Belgian food has the quality of the French and the quantity of the Germans we understand. Petite Abeille began in April 1996 on 18th Street, and Adyl joined in 1997 and became an owner in 2010.
For the appetizer, we chose one and Adyl chose one. Adyl chose the Gruyere Cheese Croquettes, above. They were absolutely phenomenal and the breaded cheese is the ultimate in comfort food. At Petite Abeille, they are composed of 75% gruyere, 20% parmesan and 5% mozzarella which is a beautiful blend on your palate.
Peachy Deegan chose the North Sea Shrimp and Artichoke Croquettes:
The shrimp we are told is from the Belgian North Sea and we do love how they use microgreens to brighten up the plate! This was very good however if we were to pick one Adyl is right we would order the cheese again.
When you cut it open you will find this tasty complexity of the three flavors combining well. Both appetizers boasted a perfect golden brown outside.
For our green salad option at this lovely Belgian Bistro we opted for the Roasted Chicken Chopped Salad, which was just perfect. We loved how they listened to us and put the dressing on the side: a dijon mustard vinaigrette if you are an aficionado of salad dressing. Of course the chicken which was roasted just right was the star of this show, and cucumber, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, roquefort and romaine teamed up for this fabulous bevy of nutrition.
When we see a menu section called "Muscles from Brussels" we infer that these are fun and creative people, two kinds of adjectives we like! We have been to beaucoup de restaurants at this stage and like to be entertained by the menu (and everything else). These mussels at Petite Abeille come from Prince Edward Island in Canada (Oh Canada we appreciate all our readers up there that are into NHL Peachy!), and you should be hungry because there are two pounds of mussels! We chose the Mussel Maniere: White Wine Celery and Garlic Broth.
What we liked most about our entire Petite Abeille experience was the BELGIAN fries. We have eaten fries and chips not only in America but also in Ireland, England, Scotland and France but have not been to Belgium. Adyl tells us that during WWII soldiers went to Belgium and fries were sold on the street. These Belgian fries were simply the best fries we have tasted in YEARS and you would be super happy to just go there and eat Belgian Fries and their original Mayo that they make themselves. We did not try any alcohol but their beer menu looked great.
Note we have eaten a lot of fries in our life and consider ourselves a connoisseur of potatoes especially due to our Irish genetics.
The mussels themselves were succulent and hit the spot. They were exactly as we expected mussels to be at a Belgian Bistro.
For our entree, we chose a bistro standard: Steak au Poivre.
It arrived medium just as we asked, and the New York Strip Steak is further enhanced by a creative Brandy Green Peppercorn Sauce (but not too creative! Just right.).
You may not pass go and collect $200 at Petite Abeille without paying attention to their amazing desserts. They work with top Belgian products and note that Belgium as a country is of course known for their chocolate! Please meet the Callebeaut Chocolate Mousse, made with whipped cream on premises:
And you'd be remiss not to try one of their signature waffles!
Here is the Fresh Strawberry with Strawberry Sauce and Whipped Cream, labeled as Fraises on the menu:
Petite Abeille is Terrific Takeout!
We look forward to seeing the other tricks in the bag of these owners...
