Bistro Provenance — Restaurant in Provo

My wife and I went for dinner. We ordered the Duck à l'Orange, Wild Mushroom Pappardelle, Roasted Squash, Pain au Chocolat, and one of the mixed drinks (I forget the name). They started with 2 rolls / mini breads with garlic parsley butter and the butter was delicious. The duck had great flavor with the seasoning on the skin and the orange sauce. It was a little tougher than I would expect, but the flavor was so good I'd order it again. The Pappardelle was less so, my wife thought the flavor was OK but too rich, but nothing special. The surprise was the roasted squash which was awesome. It too had a rich sauce and the flavor was so good. The biggest disappointment was the Pain au Chocolat. It wasn't anything like an actual one in France (we lived there for 7 months and ate a lot of pastries). Instead of a flakey pastry with a ribbon of chocolate within, it was a croissant drenched in melted chocolate. I love chocolate, and it was too much chocolate. The croissant got lost under it all.

The atmosphere was fine, but nothing special. The main complaint was hearing the kitchen noise since it was open, but it didn't detract too much.

The service was also fine. The waiter was friendly, but not that knowledgeable about the food and drinks. He seemed new. Again it didn't really detract, but doesn't deserve extra starts.

We went during the week so parking wasn't an issue.

I liked the duck and squash enough to want to return. My wife expected more from her pappardelle, so I'm not sure I'll be able to convince her. We would both skip the pain au chocolat. I hope they do well enough to stay in business because I think the duck was much better than the food I have had in...

First time. Lunch. Onion Soup - fantastic. Good crust/bread. You'd be surprised how many local places use croutons - like, actual croutons. Gruyere - thin slices, broiled - perfect. You'd also be surprised how many local places shred their cheese and under-broil it. This had a nice crust on the cheese. Again, perfect. The soup itself was great - hearty, good broth/onion ratio, and I liked how the onions were sliced/diced - not too small, not too big. Wonderful. Got the ham/brie on baguette - here's the thing. It's good to try what should be the most simple thing on the menu. A restaurant can kind of distract from a dish when it's got too many elements. This...it was fantastic. Bread. Ham. Cheese. Butter. The baguette was crusty (lightly) and then soft on inside - but not like a cheap roll soft; just good soft. When you have a baguette sandwich, you need to be able to bite - it has to be manageable where you are not wrestling to eat it. Most local baguettes are either too airy and not really a baguette, or too dense - where you have to basically rip it off. This was perfect. It was a great bread for this sandwich. And the ham - thank goodness - it was gently flavorful, and near-shaved which is the very best way to have ham on a sandwich. As thin as you can go before it shreds. This was a great sandwich. The brie was expected; the butter an extra indulgence. I went for dessert - it was...okay. I bet they have better and will go back again. I got the berry tart. Average. All that said, I cannot understand how Gurus (although it has its place in Provo) is packed and this place isn't. People need to step 10 feet east and go here. I will be back. And bought a gift card...

We have been wanting to check Bistro Provenance out for awhile, and were really looking forward to our visit today. Boy were we disappointed! While the ambiance and aesthetics were pleasing and really made an impression, unfortunately it was not a sign of things to come. One of us ordered the lunch special...half a Moroccan chicken sandwich and half a steak salad. I wish I'd thought to take a pic. The "half" sandwich was on a tiny croissant that was roughly the size (possibly smaller...we are talking SMALL) of one of the ones that Pillsbury specializes in that you pop out of a can. There was MAYBE 1/4 of a cup of chicken salad on it...not even kidding...and it had no flavor at all. I would've thought maybe throw in a bit of curry or garam masala....something to give some flavor, but nope. Not sure what qualified it as Moroccan. That being said, the croissant was flaky and light. Anyway, moving on to the salad. Again, NO flavor. Let me say that we are not picky or complaining eaters, but neither of us could find anything redeeming about this salad. Plus it was rather small. I ordered the French Onion Soup. Very small bowl and my first thought was it has a "Campbell's" kind of a vibe going on. Not terrible, not very thrilling, and not much soup for the price. We also ordered the Truffle and Parmesan Frites. They were the best thing we had, but again, considering the truffle oil, not much flavor. Also, for ten bucks I expected a larger amount. Oh well, c'est la vie! Bottom line, food: not good. Price: too high for what you get. This may explain why there were only two other people dining besides us. We will not...