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Maison Maurice Restaurant: The Charming Frenchie You Always Dreamed Of...
Beverly Hill’s Kosher Bistro Baguette Café (say that five times fast), is kicking off the New Year with a whole new—well, everything. As 2009 slipped off into the sunset, Bistro Baguette Café reemerged as Maison Maurice, a classic French brasserie. Eponymous Chef Maurice’s menu includes Parisian standbys like Pate de Campagne au Poivre, a plate of French country pate served with the traditional accoutrements of arugula, cornichons and small pickled white onions, and Sole Meuniere, sautéed in butter, lemon and garlic, as well as pastas like Farfalla Bolognese. General Manager Hassan Bahsoun says the mission of the bistro is to provide patrons with a warm place to enjoy a meal, full of spice and good taste, which makes people happy. And you can be even happier because most of the menu runs under $20, and you don't have to lose half your money to the exchange rate. Damn euros.The menu isn’t the only thing that got an overhaul. The large dining room has been totally renovated to include a bar area decorated in classic brasserie style with rattan chairs and tables heavily decorated with collages. Champagne and wine are available by the glass or the bottle ($6-475), and the beer selection ranges from $5 Bud Light to $9.50 Chimay. The indoor patio area, which has a ceiling that opens for warm nights, features a bubbling fountain and ivy climbing the walls, while the private dining room, which can be reserved for special events and large parties, is secluded behind French doors with warm golden lighting, antiqued chandeliers, plenty of burgundy, gilded frames, and velveteen couches. Very Moulin Rouge. Très chic.
Metrowize Los Angeles - 2010
Enter through the monogrammed glass doors of Maison Maurice and you’re transported to France. On the right, behind a classic red-hued bar, a screen plays black-and-white movies. On the left, a softly lit dining room is gussied up with curtains and chandeliers. The brasserie menu is simpler than the surroundings. Traditional dishes like the piquant poulet au poivre and the buttery sole meunière are lovely, but skip the rubbery napoleon for dessert. The surprise is the bill. Most entrées are less than $20.
LA Mag - May- 2010
What to Eat at Maison Maurice, Open (Again) Tonight in Beverly Hills
After a few days closed to fix some opening glitches, a manager tells us he is reopening Maison Maurice tonight. Beverly Hills' newest Francophile bistro, Maurice's too-charming-to-be-true set could have been stolen from Universal's backlot, full of vintage bistro touches like a lacquered bar holding a collage of classic French cinema posters, red walls, a checkered tile floor, garden patio, sitting room with velvet-sheathed chairs, small mural evoking the output of a Van Gogh-Chagall lovechild, and lamps and chandeliers with antique and Deco expressions.The cuisine sticks to Mediterranean bistro classics and, dare we say, is much cheaper than what Keller's charging nearby. Maurice's menu features bar bites like caprese with black olives and chicken liver pate, with all choices under ten dollars, plus a short selection of pasta plates, and entrees that veer toward chick-a-licious in several preps of poulet (including what they call a "famous" au poivre), as well as filet mignon in cognac pepper sauce, hot buttered sole, and merguez sausage frite. The menu and wine list can be viewed on Maison Maurice's website. 8620 Wilshire. Beverly Hills. 310-967-0021.
Grubstreet Los Angeles - 01.05.2010
Maison Maurice Quietly Opens in BH
Maison Maurice, now in its third incarnation opened this past weekend in highly decorated French brasserie style. Formerly the Kosher Bistro Baguette Cafe, GM Hassan Bahsoun and "Chef Maurice" have completely renovated the large dining room to include separate areas for a large bar, indoor patio (the ceiling opens in nice weather), and private dining room. The bar area is classic French brasserie with rattan chairs and tables decorated with collages. Clean and stark this restaurant is not; there is not an empty section of wall. The patio area is graced with a fountain and greenery, including ivy climbing the walls and tons of foliage. The private dining room looks like a a boudoir, secluded behind French doors, with golden lighting, antiqued chandeliers, plenty of burgundy, gilded frames, and velveteen couches.
Bahsoun is clear about the type of clientele he hopes to attract: "This is a beautiful space, meant to be filled with beautiful people." So as to enforce this rule, he's employed a bouncer to guard the door each night. Hm...
The full bar offers the requisite kir royal or cosmo, but also offers walk-in diners a place to taste the bistro-inspired cuisine. Prices are mostly reasonable with many entrees falling below the $20 mark, including Merguez, Poulet Normande and Crevettes a la Provencal.
Bahsoun says they are not planning on having a grand opening, but did want to let the neighborhood know that they were opening last Saturday so they sent out some emails and made an announcement on their website. And as for tonight's NYE festivities, not so much- the restaurant is closed. "We don't want to disappoint our guests this early on. We plan to open softly, letting neighbors know but keeping it mostly quiet until we have everything worked out completely."
Eater 12.31.2009
Frenchie food from friends
Having close friends means getting help in so many arenas, from relationship advice, to airport pickups, to a slow white Bronco drive down the 405 with not a care in the world! For friends who helped each other open their dream restaurant, check out Maison Maurice.Just opened, Maison Maurice's a Bistro-syle collab between its two owners (one the former man behind now defunct Cafe Maurice; the other in construction) whose friendship extends more than 16 years; the open-air patio and mid-sized interior's lavishly done up with everything from lush flora to velvet couches to a bar collaged w/ old movie posters to a terra-cotta tiled floor with exactly 964 tiles, not that Maurice is OCD or anything, it's just -- WHERE IS THE HAND SOAP?? Food's affordable and traditional, with entrees including spicy merguez sausages w/ French fries, tiger shrimp sauteed w/ pasta, tomato, bell pepper, herbs, and garlic oil, as well as fettucini au poulet, which is a "marinated chicken breast studied with Marsala wine, tomato sauce, herbs de Provence, Garlic and olive oil", but only because Marsala wine, tomato sauce, herbs de Provence, garlic and olive oil are all about the rack. They've also got an extensive apps selection, with choices like "Pate De Poulet Au Porto" (French chicken liver pate w/ arugula, cornichons, & white onions), "Coeurs d'Artichauds" (marinated artichokes w/ mixed greens in a Dijon vinaigrette) and the hearts of butter lettuce/red onion/parsley/olive oil/red wine vinegar "Coeurs De Latuies", or as it's known here "salad".
They're working on getting a full liquor license, but for now they've got an extensive wine list as well as a slew of beers -- all of which you've become much closer to, now that there's limited access to OJ.
thrillist.com - 01.05.2010