Sierra Bistro

I ate at Charcuterie in Sierra Madre a couple of times over the years and found it to be quite enjoyable. I was never devoted to it like some people I know, but I certainly understood where their passion came from: it was above-average food in a very relaxed atmosphere.

The other day, while Elizabeth and I were contemplating what to do for lunch just after we'd gone by Taylor's Prime Meats, we drove by the space on Sierra Madre Blvd and noticed a new sign reading "Sierra Bistro." A banner advertising "Grand Opening" was also hanging. We dropped off our groceries, looked up the Sierra Bistro menu online, and decided to go there for lunch. The grey skies had started to give way to blue, and the idea of sitting outside, especially just under the mountains in Sierra Madre, was appealing.

It turns out the restaurant is owned by the same people as Charcuterie and the head chef used to be the sous chef at Charcuterie. 

We took a seat on the patio on the north side of the restaurant (there is also one on the west side) and opened the menus. I narrowed it down to the fish & chips or the "Rueben." (Is there a maxim about any restaurant that misspells Reuben always having a lousy one? If not, there should be. But now I'm getting ahead of myself.) I asked the waitress's opinion and she said both were good. So I decided to go with the sandwich. 

The waitress was great, very friendly and efficient. And the iced tea was good. Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends.

The corned beef in my sandwich was as tough as rubber bands and it was full of fat. I understand corned beef often has pieces of fat attached to it, and sometimes it just can't all be trimmed. But this was loaded with fat. After the first two bites, when I had to yank two quarter-size chunks of fat from between my teeth, I pulled apart the sandwich and removed as much fat as I could with my fingers.

This is what I pulled out - still less than half of the fat that was lurking in the sandwich.

I was happy when I'd seen the fries were extra-skinny shoestrings. Those are always tasty. But these were room temperature. Barely warm.

"I'm surprised you're eating them," Elizabeth said after taking a few and trying them herself.

"I'm really hungry," I said, "or I would send them back."

(A few minutes after we received our food, a woman at the next table received hers and immediately said to the waitress: "These fries are cold.")

Elizabeth was not impressed with her soup at all. The cheese was a big puddle with no flavor, there were no croutons, and the broth was merely average.

I understand it's easy for little things to escape a restaurant's attention. Fatty sandwich meat? It happens sometimes. Bland soup? Well, okay. But serving not-warm fries to two different tables... when there are only three tables occupied in the entire place? That just shows a complete lack of care.

If Sierra Bistro were a brand new restaurant, I might be willing to try it again. But the fact that it's the same owners as Charcuterie - and they kept some continuity with the chef - and yet they still turned out such lousy food, I am certain I will never return.