A bistro with good taste

Not that Bistro du Midi is stuffy, snooty, or even particularly expensive - most of the entrees are under $30. It’s simply polished, despite being only a few months old. The space used to be Excelsior, and Biba before it. For Bistro du Midi, restaurateur Kenneth Himmel (Grill 23, Harvest, Per Se) partnered with London-based Marlon Abela, whose restaurant group operates the A Voce restaurants in New York, Umu and the Greenhouse in London, and more. They take hospitality seriously. (Himmel’s other recent local opening, Post 390, remains a work in progress.)

The restaurant is situated on two levels, a more casual bar area with a menu to match downstairs, and a more formal dining room upstairs. There’s a fireplace and a view out over the Public Garden. And there is some wonderful food, influenced by the South of France and executed by chef Robert Sisca, formerly sous chef at New York’s acclaimed Le Bernardin, which specializes in seafood.

Indeed, seafood may be Bistro du Midi’s best event. Marinated bay scallops are as light and lovely as dishes come. The sweet little bites are served in their shells, each perched atop a tiny pillar of salt that itself looks like a scallop. They’re dabbed with a tomato and caper marmalade, just enough to add interest without overwhelming the delicate mollusks.

A first course of stuffed calamari is a must for anyone who likes squid. Four baby calamari are filled with a mixture of leafy greens, bread, egg, and more, then slowly poached in lobster jus. This results in what may be the most tender calamari of all time; they are nearly silky. They’re topped with little fried squid, and surrounded by more of the flavorful lobster jus.

The plumpest mussels arrive in a bowl, and a server pours broth over them tableside. It’s a take on mussels mariniere, the lightly creamy broth flavored with pastis. The one problem: The dish is served without crusty bread to sop up the heady liquid.

There are more mussels and calamari in a dish of chitarra, the strands of pasta touched with saffron. The seafood and noodles soak up a deeply flavorful, garlicky broth.