“I don’t serve chicken or salmon at Bibou,” says Chef Pierre Calmels of his tiny jewel of a restaurant on 8th Street. “I want to challenge my guests a bit more, and if I put those on my menu, people will probably order them. Then all the other interesting dishes I’ve prepared will be left over, un-eaten and un-tried. The closest I’ll go is game birds, or maybe a rooster, and possibly some arctic char.”
This very excellent policy leaves room on the menu for plenty of fish dishes: two in the winter, three in the summer. Clearly, Chef Calmels loves fish, his favorites being fresh anchovies and sardines, in that order, and oily, silvery blue beauties like mackerel—sure signs of a fish lover. Every morning he heads down to Samuels & Son to select his catch personally, rather than ordering by phone: “That way, if I don’t like the look of something, I don’t have to take it; I just pick something better. It’s worth 45 minutes of my day to go there personally to get the best product.”
