Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Le Mouton Noir's new chef, Kirk Bruderer, brings new ideas to the restaurant, but 91-year-old Elvira Durante, mother of the previous owner, will continue to prepare Duc a la Mouton Noir, the restaurant's signature dish.

French restaurant reflects the passion of its new chef

By Suzanne Cristallo

Look for a new menu soon at Saratoga's classic French restaurant Le Mouton Noir, where chef Kirk Bruderer has just taken over the top kitchen spot. He envisions an emphasis on tastings--the popular European approach to dining that offers the enjoyment of up to three different items in one entree. "It'll make dining a little more fun," owner Jeff Breslow says.

"We'll still be offering the dishes our customers like," Bruderer adds, noting that Elvira Durante, mother of the previous owner who started the restaurant in 1977, will continue preparing its signature dish, Duc a la Mouton Noir. The 91-year-old Durante has come to the restaurant several days a week for the past 21 years to prepare the famous game bird for diners who know to call in their order in advance.

She stuffs a leg and thigh of the duck with a variety of nuts and dried fruits and then sautés the breast. How often she comes to the kitchen depends on how the ducks go, says Breslow, who, with wife Karen, views "the very nimble lady" affectionately as their mascot. "She's incredible," he marvels.

Meanwhile, Bruderer is getting into full swing becoming acquainted with eight assistant cooks to accommodate dinner for more than 100 people per sitting and the newly initiated Saturday lunch trade.

A highlight on the lunch menu is the fresh artichoke and Maine lobster salad of mixed greens, garnished with fried leeks and "very perfumey" truffle oil for $15.95. A fitting finale could be a dessert of pecan crème brûlée accompanied by chocolate pecan biscotti. For warm evenings on their patio, Bruderer recommends a repast of pan-seared sea scallops with porcini mushrooms garnished with rice, snow peas and truffle cream sauce.

Bruderer, 29, is a Berkeley native reared in Lafayette who now lives in Felton. While majoring in business administration at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, he worked as a cook at the famed McLintock's restaurant in Shell Beach. What started merely as a way to earn school money soon turned into a passion. He dropped business and entered Diablo Valley College culinary school, graduating to start work as a sous chef with David Kinch when Kinch opened Sent Sovi in Saratoga. Bruderer saved his money for a trip to France, where he was the only American accepted among 20 students at the time to work as a stagier--an unpaid assistant--seeking experience and tutelage under famed three-star chef Marc Meneau.

"I got knowledge, and I got fed," Bruderer states simply, recalling with a smile that he was requested not to speak French. "Their English was better than my French," he says, recalling the loud dressing down he received in French from the temperamental Meneau in his first week. "I didn't even know he was yelling at me."

Bruderer returned as chef for the French Laundry in Yountville until he was discovered by Breslow through an old résumé. "I want to create one of the premier dining experiences here--absolute perfection from the table linen, polished silver and glassware to perfect food," Bruderer says. He plans to have time for nothing else. "This is my social life."

Le Mouton Noir, 14560 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. Open for dinner Mon.-Sat. 5:30-10 p.m., Sun. 5-9:30 p.m. Lunch Sat. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. 867-7017.

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