French food, ah. No shame. This is the food of celebration – tradition indisputably opens the doors of indulgence to bearnaise sauce, escargot, crepes, souffles.
Banana ginger catsup?
“We always play around some,” laughs co-owner Patrick Deacy in reference to the French family recipes served at the popular Preston Hollow spot.
“I know it sounds crazy for a French restaurant. But I just want to try it – for myself.”
So goes the evolution of Clair de Lune, which translated is “light of the moon.” Deacy and wife Rebecca took over the restaurant six years ago from her family. The name, in fact, also is a reference to Rebecca’s mother, Clair. So what does the Irish-born Deacy bring to the table?
Twenty-six years of traveling throughout the world and eating out as a way of life – observing and developing his own preferences for food, atmosphere and service. Was he an oil consultant? Diplomat?
“Guitar technician,” Deacy says, “for rock bands.”
Rock bands? Yes – as in the band, “Yes.”
When “gallivanting around the world” didn’t turn out to be particularly conducive to life as a family man with two small sons, York and Quinn, Deacy put his experience to use in the family business – and has grown to enjoy the familiar parade of neighborhood faces. The faces are familiar because he sees them all the time, and familiar because they are attached to names such as Marcus and Halliday and Perot.
The loyal following is easy to understand. Rooms are softly pretty and carefully lit, but completely comfortable in contrast to the starchily elegant atmosphere at a stereotypical French restaurant. Another plus – prices are moderate for food of this quality.
When all this is to be had just around the corner, why cook? Why even have your cook cook?
“Well, lots of people are scared of the word ‘French,’” says Deacy, although clearly his regular neighborhood patrons are not intimidated by much of anything.
“When I invite the parents of my sons’ friends to the restaurant, most of the women want to come – but a lot of the men don’t want to. You’re trained to think like that when you’re a kid, and I don’t think you ever grow out of it.
“So I say ‘come and have a steak – we just won’t put the sauce on it,’” Deacy shrugs.
In point of fact, you don’t have to be one of the Deacy family friends to make a special request – just give them two days notice if it’s a particular dish you want and not just a minor alteration to what’s on the menu for the evening.
The luncheon selections include sandwiches – such as Lady Fingers with soup, cottage cheese and fruit salad – and a larger selection of salads. Rest assured, however, if you want to celebrate at your midday meal with a five-course meal including wine and sirloin, it’s certainly to be had.
Likewise for dinner, you can choose between low-calorie items such as grilled rainbow trout, or throw caution to the winds and order the Chateaubriand topped with Perigourdine sauce, flavored with truffles, and wrapped in parchment to “infuse the flavour.”
Hors d’oeuvres include items such as smoked trout with horseradish crème fraiche and crabcakes with lobster sauce; soups include traditional French onion and Clair de Lune’s trademark Brie Soupe.
Forget to order the souffle at the beginning of the evening? Poor thing. You’ll have to suffer along with crème brulee or Peach Melba.
Not a simple menu, and not a simple restaurant to run.
“You think about this (the restaurant) 24 hours a day – or 25,” Deacy says. “There’s always something. We sell Dover Sole as if it’s going out of fashion and this week, because of the snow on the East Coast, we haven’t had it for two days.”
“But there’s one thing about this area – the customers who walk out the door, they tell you nice things. We get the odd complaint but, basically, because we’re part of the neighborhood, because the clientele is a little bit more mature – they let you know.
“Without that, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
