APRIL 3, 1991
The lights are turned down low, candles flicker on the tables, and there are folk songs and ballads two evenings each weeks in Le Pantre, in downtown Grand Forks. What’s more, reasonably priced dinners are served in this cozy, homey atmosphere.
The Pantry, a good place for lunch, turns into Le Pantre, a dining room with French flavor, at 5 P.M. And the dinners are outstanding.
We were there Friday evening. The orange roughy dinner I ordered was one of the best meals I have had on the Eatbeat for a long time. I was more than pleased. I was impressed.
Orange roughy was one of the Friday specials, for $8.95. The entree was preceded by an iceberg lettuce salad, served nicely on a glass plate with a vinaigrette dressing that was excellent. The orange roughy seemed to be poached with spices. It was soft, tender and tasty, and served with a twice-baked potato. Also on the plate were candied potato strips and broccoli, still green and crisp. There was also a large lemon wedge cut like a flower.
For me, it was a Good Friday blessing to have broccoli that was still vivid green—not overcooked and mushy. The whole wheat buns, still warm from the oven, were an unexpected pleasure. The whole meal was next to perfection.
Where else, except Sanders, I wondered, can you go in the Grand Forks area for a complete top-rate meal like this?
With me were Constant Companion (CC), who ordered lasagna for $5.75, and Daughter Gail (DG). She had just driven in from Bismarck with Little Jack (LJ) and ordered filet mignon ($12.75).
The lasagna is one of five entrees served with a green salad and herbed garlic toast. CC found the meal much to his liking. As DG was eating her filet, she said, “When I do eat beef, I want it to be as good as this.”
There were a half dozen other tables occupied while we were in the restaurant. We sat back and enjoyed the singing of Ron Franz, who entertains Friday evenings. On Saturday evenings, there is music by Scott Julin.
Le Pantre features homemade desserts, which included a gorgeous chocolate layer cake along with several versions of elegant cheesecake. This is extra, of course, and we declined. But the desserts would put a festive cap on a meal here. Or they would be great if you just came in for coffee and a sweet fix while listening to music. Le Pantre is a gem of a restaurant on a street that is quiet in the evenings. How well it will go is still to be seen.
Warren LeClerc, the owner and manager of The Pantry, says dinner business during the week is often nil or next to it. Weekends are better, but not bustling. Still, he takes a positive approach. He has passed the 3½-year mark in business, trying to present an international style of food in Grand Forks. If he can’t make things work one way, he tries another.
He reaches out for catering business and has hosted group events in the restaurant. He takes food out. Next week he will face the challenge of serving a dinner to 800 UND students at the Civic Auditorium during Greek Week. On Mother’s Day, he will begin serving a Sunday brunch.
Soon, he will be serving sandwiches to downtown business places. He figures if the business doesn’t come in to him, he will go out and get it.
Lunch business is good at The Pantry, LeClerc says, but he needs more than one meal to show a profit. The Pantry has distinguished itself with its blue plate specials at noon as well as sandwiches, salads, soups and home-baked items.
CC and I stopped at The Pantry Thursday for lunch. We both ordered fettuccine carbonara, which was the blue plate special for $4.95. It was a hearty main dish, with three cheeses, and flavored with herbs. The noodles were nice, long and al dente. With it, there was garlic bread, much better than the stuff you usually get in cafes.
The Pantry has some shortcomings. With Thursday’s lunch, I was served a rather ordinary iceberg lettuce salad with too much creamy dressing on it. At times, the service seems disorganized. On Thursday, there was an unusually long delay in serving one of the two blue plate specials we ordered. But then, in France, things are a bit disorganized and everything always works out.
Marilyn says that The Pantry is “long gone from the Grand Forks restaurant scene.”