Introducing: Bonne Femme Nights at Baru 66

David Baruthio, chef/co-owner of Baru 66 restaurant.

**** Newsflash***** For the first menu (October 3), click here!

I’m very excited about this. Starting Wednesday, October 3, Baru 66 will be presenting my recipes for four consecutive Wednesday evenings. These Bonne Femme nights are part of an on-going project that I’m working on with the chef, which we’re tentatively calling “Le Chef et La Bonne Femme.” Together, we are exploring a vision of two types of French cuisine: The beautifully detailed and refined food enjoyed in high-end French restaurants, and the more casual (yet life-enhancing) food that the French enjoy every day at home—the kind of food I explore in the cookbook.

The Bonne Femme evenings will focus on the latter.

Le Chef is David Baruthio, a native of Strasbourg, France, who has headed up kitchens across the globe—from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Belgium to a five-star hotel restaurant in Mongolia. Love brought him to Des Moines; he married a girl from around these parts.

La Bonne Femme is, of course, me.

Below are the details:

MENU:

The Bonne Femme Menu will be available on the following four Wednesday nights: October 3, 10, 17, and 24, with seatings available anytime from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Reservations are strongly advised; call 277-6627. Baru 66 is at 6587 University Ave. in Windsor Heights.

Priced at $35 per person, the prix-fixe menus will offer three courses, with options available in each course. Most of the recipes will be from The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Everyday. The menu will change weekly; however, diners should expect to spot some French classics, such as Coq au Vin, Beef Burgundy, Basque Chicken and Blanquette de Porc, on the menu.

Other dishes, such as Roasted Salmon with Pernod Sauce and Root Vegetables, will show the more spontaneous side of everyday French food. To create these dishes, Le Chef and La Bonne Femme will do what chefs and home cooks across France do every day: Head to the market to fill their baskets with food at its peak-season best; then, come back to the kitchen and create vivid and fresh, simple yet life-enhancing meals.

COMMUNITY TABLE AVAILABLE:

Diners may elect to dine traditionally, at private tables with their own party. However, for those wishing to tap into the warm, convivial spirit of some of France’s more casual bistros, a “community table” will be offered. This allows diners arriving solo or in smaller parties to enjoy the meal in the company of other food lovers, if they so desire.

Le Chef and I will make frequent visits to the community table to raise a glass, chat and answer questions. Dinner at the community table will begin at 6:30 p.m. When making reservations, please specify whether you would like to sit at the community table or separately with your own party.

I hope to see you there!