Bar Etoile — LA’s Newest French-Inspired Bistro in East Hollywood

The most memorable French meal I’ve had in LA was at Cafe Beaujolais in Eagle Rock. After 25 years, they ceased their operation in July 2024. Cafe Beaujolais was the closest thing you could get to a Parisian bistro: the intimate ambiance, the remarkable sauces, and the lovely French staff. The last time I went there with my dad, our waiter was originally from Senegal. It was a beautiful sight seeing my dad placing his order in French, while also conversing with him about his background. 

Sadly, all good things come to an end. After 25 years, the chef has retired, hence the closing. 

There is no shortage of French restaurants in LA. I had great meals at Bicyclette (permanently closed) and Cafe Stella (temporarily closed), but none of them were as memorable as Cafe Beaujolais. 

At the end of November 2024, Bar Etoile opened in East Hollywood. After reading articles from publications like EaterLA and The Infatuation, deeming Bar Etoile a slice of Parisian gastronomy in LA, I was very intrigued.

Co-founders Julian Kurland and Jill Bernheimer partnered with music executive-turned-chef Travis Hayden. In 2009, Jill opened Domaine LA , a natural wine store on Melrose Avenue, which continues to be in operation. Julian’s resume also heavily leans into beverages, having worked as a beverage consultant for The Rose Cafe in Venice, as well as a beer and beverage director at The Cannibal Beer & Butcher in Culver City. 

After 12 years as a music executive, Travis Hayden joined Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica to work as a full-time cook. Before joining Julian and Jill’s business venture, he was the chef at Voodoo Vin, a wine bar in East Hollywood offering a selection of 400 wine bottles from around the world and small appetizers. 

Jill shared with EaterLA: “We were inspired by a lot of different places in Paris, where there’s this great blend of high-level experience mixed with a more casual environment. It’s not a nod to a specific place, but a nod to the names of the types of places that we enjoy.” Regarding the name, Etoile translates to “star”. 

The interior was beautifully designed by architecture and design studio, Lovers Unite, who have previously designed some restaurants I recognized, like Dunsmoor and Kismet Rotisserie’s walk-up window in Studio City. 

For Bar Etoile, Lovers Unite flawlessly merges classic and modern. I loved the opulent curved booths with the brown upholstered wall and sconces. This area could definitely double as a backdrop of a spy thriller from the 1960s. The other area of the restaurant, designed for solo diners and parties of two, leans more contemporary while preserving the coziness with warm lighting mounted in the brown, upholstered wall. In this area, the most prominent detail is the solid white wall with tastefully designed custom made pieces.

Julian said: “They are wine and spirits labels from producers who are of particular importance to us. And there are two that are our dogs as well, just for good measure.”

I sat in the bar area, which was in the middle. The Endive Salad and the Steak Frites seemed like a good choice. If I wanted to be transported to a Parisian bistro, I couldn’t go wrong with a classic steak frites, right? Oh, if I only knew. 

At first, I was debating on whether to order the Endive Salad or the Caesar Beef Tartare as an appetizer. The waiter’s face completely changed when I mentioned the Caesar Beef Tartare. “That’s my favorite thing on the menu”, he said. However, since I was already going to order meat, the endives would be a lighter alternative to start off my meal.

Endive Salad, savory meringue, caramelized yeast, pear crémeux

The only time I had an endive salad was at Horses. I don’t like Caesar dressings, but that one was such a memorable salad: the dressing was very nuanced and delicate, allowing the crisp and slightly bitter flavor of the endives shine through.

At Bar Etoile, the endives are piled high and lightly coated in a vinaigrette sauce. Then, they’re topped with meringue shards, a candy that is used in desserts. I personally didn’t like the combination of the endives, which are savory and crunchy, and the chewiness of the sweet meringues. It says on the menu that these are “savory” meringues. To me, they were very sweet and tart.

Once I got to the bottom, there was a hodgepodge of pear crémeux, caramelized yeast, and tiny beady balls that tasted like burnt caramel.

The pear crémeux had a very prominent dairy flavor. Crémeux is a smooth cream that chefs typically use as a base for desserts.

There was too much going on: the crémeux, the strong flavor and chewiness of the meringue shards; and lastly, the overwhelmingly sweet caramelized round beads. All the ingredients felt disjointed. This salad is supposed to be all about the endives, but they were left behind. When Julian, Jill and Travis did the interview for EaterLA, they didn’t even bring out this dish. Overall, this salad was a hard pass for me. 

Steak Frites & Montpellier Butter

My steak was cooked medium rare. The first I noticed was that it was oversalted, but I didn’t think too much of it. The cuts were moist and tender, and the quality of the meat was really good!

I tried soaking up the interior cuts of meat into the sauce to amp up the flavor, but it didn’t work. The sauce, or dare I say, broth, lacked depth. If you go to different bistros in Paris, each of them has their own signature sauce. Any restaurant can cook steak or French fries, but ultimately, the secret to a mouthwatering steak frites lies in the sauce. The meat is the supporting act, the sauce is the star of the show. Here, neither of them took the spotlight.

Despite its vibrant green color, the Montpellier butter had a very faint herbal flavor. A good option would have been to mix the butter into the sauce to make it thicker and more substantial. Another choice would have been to add wine or herbs to the sauce.

Note: When it comes to steak frites, Parisian bistros typically never disclose the use of butter on their menu. If the steak is already served with their housemade sauce, they cleverly conceal the butter in the sauce. Some places serve the steak with a dollop of butter on top, but if they do, they forgo the sauce. 

Here’s what a quintessential steak frites dish looks like in Paris:

Below is an excerpt from L’Entrecôte de Paris’ website, another legendary institution in Paris. The sauce is what makes bistros stand out from each other!

“What could be better than a moment with family, by the fire, alongside beautiful meat and its secret sauce (secret for you but not for us)?

Yes, the famous secret sauce is made solely by members of the Champvert family, quite a responsibility! This restaurant has formed the heart of our family for three generations, and is also our pride and joy.” – L’Entrecote de Paris (website)

Back to our meal! 😞

The heap of fries. Mon Dieu. Where do I even begin? They were so oversalted I was only able to eat four. There’s nothing worse than eating fries completely drenched in salt. Putting the salt aside, the fries were too white and not crispy enough. Bistro-style French fries are known for their crispiness and golden brown color. The amount of fries was also excessive. 

Since I was only able to eat a few and still had room for something else, I ordered the Caesar Beef Tartare that the waiter previously raved about. 

As I was waiting for it, I felt as if I’d just had a generous spoonful of salt. I had a very uncomfortable salty taste on my tongue and experienced acid reflux in my stomach the next morning. When your salt intake is that high, your digestive system has to break it down somehow!

Caesar Beef Tartare

Since my taste buds were still sore from the oversalted fries, I thought they were playing tricks on me when I noticed more salt. After I got home and took a better look at the picture, I found that the beef tartare was indeed sprinkled with salt. 

The bread from Bub’s and Grandma’s was soft and fluffy. The raw beef was very rich and had a pleasantly soft texture, but the salt ruined it for me. At this point, I couldn’t even taste the grated cheeses. The spread on the bread was heavy and thick and tasted like mayonnaise. Too eggy.

I would have enjoyed the beef tartare on its own with the bread on the side. The heavy cream and grated cheeses were unnecessary and detracted from the tartare. Why not keep it simple?

Chocolate Tart with Passion Fruit, Chantilly Cream

By the time I was ready to order dessert, my taste buds were in dire need of something sweet. “I should have ordered the sorbet. Damn it!” I thought as soon as I saw the salt sprinkled on top of the chocolate tart. Given Chef Travis’ strong affinity for salt, I should have known better.

The taste of the chocolate was too bitter and adding passion fruit, which has a distinctive sweet flavor didn’t ameliorate it. I squinted my eyes with every bite. Since the chocolate was already so rich and intense on its own, why add a sweet fruit in the mix? You can mix dark chocolate with other fruits, but you have to know how to balance the intensity of the flavors, especially if you’re using a sweet tropical fruit.

You would think that the Chantilly cream would have made a difference by counteracting the strong bitter flavor, but it actually made it worse. It was tartness galore. The consistency was also too thick. If you Google “Chantilly cream”, you’ll see that the texture is identical to whipped cream; smooth and creamy, and it has a sweet flavor profile. Not even the crust was able to redeem this chocolate tart, but hey, at least the flakes of salt weren’t as prominent this time! 🧂 🤞🏽

Throughout my meal, different servers asked me if I wanted to take the leftovers home. When I declined to take the fries, one of them looked slightly surprised. The only dishes I was able to finish were the endive salad because I was starving when I got there, and the chocolate tart because at that point, I didn’t care if I didn’t like it. I just wanted something sweet.

Overall thoughts

Bar Etoile feels like a group of friends from LA who have just watched Amélie and Emily in Paris. United by their newfound love of French culture, they decided to open a restaurant without taking the time to learn about the fundamentals of French cuisine. Sadly, the great ambiance does not match the French vibes they’re trying to convey. I wanted to like Bar Etoile, I really did…

When Chef Travis was the chef at Voodoo Vin, his appetizers were very experimental. I wasn’t too surprised when I saw a different iteration of the Caesar Beef Tartare he used to make when he worked there.

French cuisine is known for its sophisticated and masterful execution of cream and butter. The way they finesse the flavors in their sauces is an art form. Bar Etoile is a playground for Chef Travis to play with fancy French creams and test new recipes.

Think of Bar Etoile as an Americanized French-inspired bistro. Emphasis on the words ‘Americanized’ and ‘inspired’.

From a marketing standpoint, a French business name with a French-leaning menu is more exciting to promote than a new modern restaurant with a relatively unknown chef. Since its opening, a flock of food reporters and TikTokers have praised Bar Etoile as a cozy French bistro. Even their first Instagram post in September 2023 teased the French atmosphere of the restaurant by featuring pictures of Parisian bistros Julian and Jill took inspiration from. 

The last time I checked Bar Etoile’s Instagram bio, it read: “a restaurant, a wine bar, everything in between”. It was interesting they didn’t use the word “French”.

If you are planning on visiting Bar Etoile to be transported to a Parisian bistro, you’re in for a rude awakening. None of the food I ate remotely transported me to Paris. Instead, I had to succumb to an ungodly amount of salt and random food combinations that fulfilled the chef’s creative vision for a whopping price of $125!

You will be dearly missed, Cafe Beaujolais… 

I will give Bar Etoile two stars (no pun intended): one for the spectacular ambiance, and one for the efficient service. Although I don’t plan on going back anytime soon, if you’re in the mood for drinks and cocktails, Bar Etoile will check that box. I don’t drink, but since Julian and Jill come from the alcoholic beverage industry, drinks are their main forte and their presentation actually looks nice. 

Bar Etoile: Website and Instagram

Luckily, there’s a restaurant in LA that serves steak frites just like in Paris! With three Michelin stars (2022, 2023, 2024), Camphor in the Arts District seems to have the utmost reverence for French cuisine. Sometimes they even do Steak Frites nights! 

Will it live up to my expectations? Stay tuned for my upcoming review! Happy holidays!