Bar Boheme — Restaurant in Las Vegas

02 June 2025 Restaurant Week kickoff! These two-three weeks in June are like Christmas for me.

Very pleasant greeting from Bar Bohème's hostess upon entry. And when I expressed my interest in a bar seat, she gave me free rein. Got water and all the menus.

The RW menu consisted of four courses for $80. Menu prices included if known in parentheses, but in one instance unsure about portion size.

First Course was the non-negotiable Canapes: Actually, I received A canape. I observed a duo of diners receive four. This was ratatouille in a pastry tube, which appears to align with the Ratatouille item on the daily menu ($13). Nice light starter bite.

Second Course choice Escargots Vol-au-Vent ($17): Four snails, which from photos seems to be the standard number, in crisp flakey pastry rings (the Vol au Vent; I learn a lot eating out). Lots of garlic and onion impact.

Third Course choice 8oz Bavette Steak avec Frites ($52): Stunning meat, at the perfect, requested, medium-rare all the way through, great mouthfeel. Topped with a giant flavorful roasted shallot. Accompanied by a solid handful of crispy potato spears which had been double-fried in beef tallow.

Fourth Course choice Crème Brûlée Tart ($15): Dish seems identical in size to the one on the daily menu. Decent carmelized top, good custard, good crumble to the shortbread base, fruit gel lent a mildly juicy contrast.

Value of the RW menu: Even if the canape was omitted from the equation, a diner can still come out slightly ahead. Food was uniformly well-prepared and delicious.

It wouldn't be me if I also did not drink like a fish during my meal.

Bamboo ($16 x2): Smoothly addictive.

Espresso Martini ($15): Bartender Tony crafted it using cold brew with spiced rum and a touch of chocolate. Yummy and gave a nice ending buzz.

Value for cocktails: Excellent.

Service: Floor personnel were most engaging, circulating and checking on patrons regularly. Tony behind the bar was quite pleasant.

Atmosphere: Light, casual yet still projecting class.

etc - Restaurant Week 2025 runs 02-13 June. Some places do extend for longer.

02 April 2025 Had been eager to eat at Bar Bohème since I first heard at next door Petite Bohème of its imminent launch. Once it populated on OpenTable, snagged a reservation for its second official open day.

Got escorted to a two-top against the windows overlooking the porch and small lawn. Introductions, menus, water followed.

Citron et Basilic ($16): Very sharp.

Gougères ($13): Five pieces, excellent crisp outer shell and light air-pocket interior, topped with cheesy mousse and with a tease of filling.

Chef Remy ($16): Thick, herbal sweetness. Powerful.

Mary's Duck ($45): Meat done two ways, one with the dark meat falling off the bone tender wrapped in its crispy skin, and the other two thick juicy slices. Fantastic flavor either way. Came with a cute pitcher of the l'orange jus. Vegetables were perfectly done, great accompaniments.

Gérard Bertrand 2018 Banyuls Vin Doux Naturel ($17): Decent pour.

Tarte Tatin ($22): If you guessed that I ordered this because of "foie gras ice cream" you would be correct. That component had a fatty savoriness which contrasted nicely with sweet firm apple slices on top of the flaky pastry base. The crowning spun sugar caramel nest was just perfectly airy enough to melt away on the tongue.

Value: Magnificent for flavor, portion size, variety, craftsmanship, and presentation.

Service: Most engaging and attentive from the hostess, to server Alex(andra), and all the other staff just generally being helpful.

Atmosphere: Garden party aesthetic in teal and gold. An elegant white-tablecloth eatery which apparently was not too confident in its patrons' dining manners so shielded that tablecloth with white butcher paper. Pretty WC area done in soft pink and white with pictures of people like Joséphine Baker doing bohemian things.

etc - Chef/Owner James Trees was in residence and stopped everywhere to chat...

I was rather excited to have a legitimate French bistro here in Vegas that wasn't on the strip, and from acclaimed local chef James Trees of Esther's Kitchen fame. Early in my career I was the sous at a fine bistro and fell in love with everything about them. Well, after visiting Bar Boheme I can assure you that you can do better. Bar Boheme certainly should.

The menu here is Vegas Strip level expensive, on par with Bouchon at the Venetian, but doesn't even come close to the quality or hospitality you'd find there. Appetizers are comically small. A single slice of pate is 19 dollars. 16 dollars gets you four canapes, the kind of tiny things handed out en masse at a cocktail hour that you absentmindedly eat in one bite while waiting for something interesting to happen. Hilariously my wife's 16 dollar cocktail was made with flat champagne, and this absolute lack of attention to detail defined our dining experience.

A 22 dollar salad came topped with a fully hard-boiled poached egg. We eventually got someone's attention, and to her credit our server seemed appropriately apalled. By the time we were served a replacement, a solid 15 minutes had passed. We asked for some bread, a demi-baguette that cost 5 dollars, and the server was of course trained to upsell us the additional 5 for "fancy" French butter. It's impossible to not keep comparing this to that formerly mentioned strip bistro, where the prices are similar but the service is attentive and the bread is included.

Of the trout Amandine, the trout itself was passable although severely underseasoned. Of course salt shakers are 'tres gauche' in a place of this caliber, so it was impossible to do anything about it. The beurre noisette was not browned as per its namesake but simply a puddle of melted butter on the plate. Steak frites, which garners its own framed feature on the menu, was an abomination. The 55 dollar bavette itself was entirely unseasoned, save for the overwhelming charred essence emanating from the glazed shallot placed atop it; so thoroughly burnt that it required exploratory surgery to find any edible parts. The sauce au poivre was just plain wrong, a ramekin of slightly milky dirty water. The frites were decent but a tiny portion, inconsistent even with other pictures right here on Google. A silly bullet of ketchup was also included. All of this was piled onto a tiny oval, crowded edge to edge with meat and ramekins in a manner that a Kitchen Manager at Outback Steakhouse would be ashamed to serve. 55 dollars. For literally one dollar more we could've had the one at Bouchon, which is perfectly made and plated appropriately for the price.

Apparently this warranted a manager's attention, who graciously removed the steak from the bill and offered a replacement. We were exhausted at this point, nearly two hours had passed since we walked in and my wife just wanted to go home. The manager insisted on buying us a dessert and the baba au rhum was very good, although even then the server attempted to upsell us on coffee service.

It's sometimes hard to justify going out, food is expensive and a lot of formerly stalwart restaurants have slipped noticeably in recent years. When it's your anniversary it's important to try and make the best of things though. We were just one small table, and the two loud tables seated directly next to us in an otherwise empty dining room seemed to be having a good time. It's a tough industry, maybe we just didn't spend enough to be worth the effort - sorry but 195 dollar shellfish towers just aren't for us. This whole debacle still cost nearly 200 bucks even after the steak came off the bill, and I'm certainly in no hurry to spend my time or money at Bar Boheme or any of Chef James Trees's restaurants...

Thus far forced down Sin City’s throat via comped “media” meals, “collaborations” and influencer “sponsored” posts on every Social Media site an early visit to Bar Boheme provides a cautionary reminder about dining in 2025, especially when no amount of skill or passion can correct for protracted wait times and errors easily avoided by more established Eateries.

A long-awaited collaboration between Chef James Trees and investors, the inside loosely reminiscent of French Bistros without lacking for some #gramworthy touches, Bar Boheme occupies a completely rebuilt space at 1401 South Main Street just a few blocks from Esther’s Kitchen past and present locations.

Focused on traditional French fare, think Pates and Onion Soup plus Steak Frites akin to the Brasseries and Cafes in Lyon or Paris, Wines track a price point roughly half those on the Strip while traditional Cocktails like the French 75 pair nicely to Appetizers such as delicate Gougeres and faultless Salt Cod Brandade not available anywhere else in Vegas.

Less impressed by Bar Boheme’s Baguette, $8 each and under-flavored even with liberally salted Butter, Trees’ team excels at Pate de Campagne as well as Duck Rillettes as good as France while Waterloo & City’s Chicken Liver Pate is reborn as good as any chilled Foie Gras prep in town.

Never one to take shortcuts, both the Tarte Flambee and Frisee Lardon Salad as they ought to be while Ratatouille bites outpace an “Escargots Tarte” that unfortunates sticks hard to cast iron, Bar Boheme’s French Onion Soup immediately deserves “best of” accolades thanks to the depth of its Broth and dueling Cheeses plus a good amount of Esther’s absorbent Sourdough.

Heartfelt and labor intensive, Esther’s Bone Marrow ported-over and as good as ever, two entrees arrived nearly 45 minutes after they were requested with the Steak Frites notably well-priced and “Le Hamburger” remarkable not only in its size but quality for less than $20 with Fries.

Told “we’ll send out all the Desserts” after an apology for the wait, though all were included on the bill, it was after meeting the Pastry Chef that another Steak and Burger were brought to the table but sent away so guests could focus on a Parisian-quality Brest and Tarte Tatin with Foie Gras Ice Cream.

Surely on its way to becoming another Arts District destination, though the Macaron Sundae sees Cookies too hard and gummy as a result of the juxtaposing Ice Cream, those seeking a nightcap can continue the night next door at Petite Boheme owned and designed by...