Hats off

Chapeau! (Inner Richmond)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

Approaching nearly 30 years in business, Inner Richmond French bistro Chapeau! wants to cement itself as a local institution. But how does a family-owned operation reinvigorate itself to fit the city’s modern dining landscape, while also staying rooted in approachable, classic recipes?

That’s the question at the heart of a refresh that Chapeau! — without the exclamation point, it translates as “hat,” but with it, it’s “wow” — underwent last year. It now sports a modernized dining room in cool color tones with glossy wooden tables (that make excellent use of the light pouring in from diverse Clement St.) and a fresh sage-and-white exterior.

The biggest change, however, is owner/executive chef Philippe Gardelle’s new chef de cuisine: his son, Andrew. An alum of Spruce and The Village Pub, he joins both his father and his mother Ellen in setting up some serious hits throughout the refreshed menu.

The salade Lyonnaise, with frisée, lardon, crouton, and poached egg, comes gently bathed in the lightest, most flavorful Dijon dressing. Escargot, prepared correctly and unfussily, with garlic, parsley and butter: in an elite class, as are the freshly housemade baguettes that comes with the dish to sop up its sauce. A filet mignon acts as a cheeky update on steak and potatoes by way of marble potato accompanying it along with bok choy, spinach purée, and veal jus. Duck confit cassoulet comes with both Toulouse and garlic sausages; it was transportative, especially with a generous helping of potato gratin (whimsically, the only side dish on the menu).

The distinctly French experience at Chapeau! Doesn’t stop there, whether it’s French servers guiding you through wines of Loire and Bourgogne, or the elder Gardelle himself, jovially whisking you from the bar to your table. Tucked in the Inner Richmond, it could easily get lost in the shuffle of the city, but make no mistake about it, this is a diamond, and one very much deserving of the exclamation point in its name. –Adrian Spinelli

→ Chapeau! (Inner Richmond) • 126 Clement St • Wed-Sun 5-9p • Reserve.