Por Frank Sabatini Jr.
Her christening party two weeks ago featured free crepes for everyone and the arrival of flower boxes outside her home. Inside, a freshly built kitchen and espresso bar were already in place for the early-August birth of this darling newcomer to North Park.
Say hello to Café Madeleine. She’s the namesake sibling of the humble crepery in South Park, which Christine Perez launched several years ago under the culinary guidance of two French transplants: restaurateur Jerome Gombert of the former Vagabond, and chef Patrick Ponsaty, who headed up fine-dining kitchens locally and internationally before landing at Bellamy’s in Escondido.
With a similar Parisian-style façade as the café in South Park, Madeleine’s second location is bigger. And in terms of food and ambiance, it’s the closest thing you’ll find locally to an authentic French brasserie.
A generous row of café tables occupying the inviting sidewalk patio leads into a roomy and solid interior. Detailed wood trim wraps around the espresso bar and order counter while Venetian-plastered walls set a neutral backdrop for such elegant touches as a large marble-top table displaying magazines and fresh flowers. Perched against a front wall are antiquated trolley doors, which based on their inscription, likely originated from France.
Fronting the semi-open kitchen is a crepe-making area that allows customers to watch the cooks pour batter onto traditional, round grills before nudging it around with wood turners as it bubbles and cooks — just like you’d see of crepe vendors in any French city, but sans their animated maneuvers.
I’ve had Madeleine’s savory and dessert crepes in South Park, and the lemon-butter crepe here. Cooked consistently to golden outcomes and folded craftily into rectangles, they’re a tad thicker than what I’ve had in France, but transporting nonetheless.
Unique to baby Madeleine’s menu are classic French sandwiches using crusty melt-in-your-mouth baguettes sourced from Bread & Cei. Also newly introduced are a few egg dishes, such as an exquisitely earthy mushroom omelet folding in sautéed shitake, Portobello, oyster and crimini varieties.
In addition, there’s nicoise salad arranged in traditional sections of haricots verts (thin green beans), hard-boiled egg, small dark-purple olives, capers and baby potatoes. The spuds, however, were plain and undercooked compared to those served with the mushroom omelet and kissed by herbs de Provence and roasted red bell peppers.
In the French city of Nice, this composed salad is accented with sardines. Yet in the casual brasserie culture of Paris, and at Madeleine, it’s topped with canned tuna — in this case perfectly acceptable albacore. Apparently some customers have squawked about it, preferring seared ahi or the sardines instead. I vote for not changing a thing.
The saucisson baguette sandwich I consumed was divine. Similar to what bakeries and street vendors throughout Europe start selling at the crack of dawn, this adhered to the less-is-better approach with a single layer of French-cured salami, semi-sweet cornichons, tomatoes and thinly sliced cucumbers. No cheese or condiments are needed; it’s just a basic sandwich with sophisticated flavor.
Other sandie choices include brie, country pate, French ham and Moroccan lamb sausage. Coming at the end of September are a few dinner entrees such as coq au vin and beef bourguignon, which will coincide aptly to beer and wine when it becomes available later in the season.
For now, the beverage list comprises a slate of coffee drinks using beans and techniques by Illy, and an alchemic presentation of lemonade that starts with fresh-squeezed lemon juice filling about a third of a tall glass.
It’s served with a small pitcher of cold water, a bowl of sugar cubes and sprigs of mint, thus allowing you to control the strength and flavor of the drink. (I achieved desirable medium tartness by using three parts water, four sugar cubes and a few mint leaves.)
Confections include everything from house-baked croissants and pastries to scratch-made Madeleine cookies and dessert crepes spiked with fresh fruit, Nutella or pastry cream.
As I learned from Madeleine’s original location, and I will do so here, it takes multiple visits to fully discover all of her French delights, which strongly resemble any you’ll find while lolling in a café along the Seine River.
—Frank Sabatini Jr. es el autor de “Secret San Diego” (ECW Press), y comenzó su carrera como escritor local hace más de dos décadas como miembro del personal del ex San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en [email protected].
