dining out
Is Faubourg the Best
French Restaurant in N.J.?
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
Montclair
FAUBOURG
SNAILS & CHICKEN OYSTERS
FRICASSÉE WITH HAZELNUTS
AND PARSLEY
544 BLOOMFIELD AVE., (973) 542-7700
FAUBOURGMONTCLAIR.COM
L
eave it to two French restaurant
veterans to open what may be the
best French restaurant in North
Jersey, if not the entire Garden
State.
Chef Olivier Muller and his
business partner Dominique Paulin, both
Daniel Boulud alums, took a bi-level retail
space on Bloomfield Avenue and trans-
formed it into a sexy, lively brasserie contain-
ing a chic gray-and-blue dining room with
a big bar, a spacious outdoor patio with
another big bar, a two-story-tall all-glass wine
cellar, and a wraparound mezzanine with
banquette seating and a cozy cocktail lounge.
It’s tempting to start an evening sitting on
one of the white benches outside enjoying
cocktails (highly recommended: a martini
with fat Kalamata olives or a Negroni with one
massive ice cube) before heading indoors for
some serious eats. Of course, you could skip
the meal — there’s a rollicking scene at both
indoor and outdoor bars — and nosh on some
bar food, but you would miss out on Muller’s
mouthwatering dishes and pastry chef Melissa
Rodriguez’s heavenly desserts.
Consider starting your meal with that clas-
sic Alsatian appetizer, tarte flambée, a super-
thin, crisp, cracker-like dough (“Matzoh,” one
of my dining companions quipped on one of
the nights I dined at Faubourg), covered with
gooey melted fromage blanc and bits of smoky
bacon. It’s so simple, yet so tasty. Some eight
years ago, Muller brought this appetizer to
db Bistro Moderne, Boulud’s midtown
restaurant; it is still on the menu.
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FALL 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
OWNERS DOMINIQUE
PAULIN AND OLIVIER
MULLER