French-Kissed Comfort Food

By Naomi Wise | Published Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

Although Hexagone (named for the shape of France on a map) is still a very new restaurant, it’s run by a French-born old pro, Patrick Halcewicz, and his nephew, general manager Benjamin Halcewicz. Patrick is the owner of French Market Grille in Rancho Bernardo. Hexagone has slipped into a spot across the street from Laurel, formerly held by Gemelli, a pricey, failed spin-off of the Busalacchi empire. It promises to fulfill the “neighborhood French restaurant” slot that this neighborhood has craved ever since chef Nathan Coulon departed from nearby Modus.

The redone dining room is dimly lighted and romantic, with many slightly undersized tables for four and some for two, up a short staircase from a street-level bar that was fully populated on my visit but quiet in volume — evidently a bar for talkers, not shriekers. A loop of Edith Piaf plays over and over, repeatedly regretting nothing.

The menu is huge — nearly 20 appetizers, over 20 entrées. All the appetizers are $10 or less, and quite rich, so — you know where I’m going with this — you can make a grazing meal for two for $20–$25 each, plus the usual wine, tip, tax, and a dessert if you want one. And the wine list is humane, with French choices priced at close to retail cost, e.g., an attractive Châteauneuf-du-Pape for under $50.

Executive chef Daniel Durfort certainly has a French name, but whatever his professional background, the menu — nearly a twin of French Market Grille’s — hints that he’s largely confined by the owner’s concepts and adherence to tradition. Nearly all dishes are of the old-fashioned French provincial mode, sometimes with heavy sauces that are classically based on fond brun (a beef-stock–based sauce foundation) and/or veal demi-glace, if my palate tells me right. (These are the very sauces that the nouvelle cuisine chefs rebelled against 30-something years ago.) Whether the fond and “demi” are made in-house (a 12-hour minimum process over two days) or are purchased ready-made I’m not prepared to guess, but their ubiquity can make various dishes taste fundamentally alike, however the mother-sauces are amended.