Arroyo December 2018

Mathias Wakrat and Jean-Christope Febbrari
Moules Provençales
–continued from page 13
MATHIAS WAKRAT AND JEAN-CHRISTOPHE FEBBRARI
Entre Nous
New on Pasadena’s culinary landscape is Entre Nous, which opened in October.
It’s owned by chefs Mathias Wakrat and Jean-Christophe Febbrari. Both were
born in small French Riviera towns not far from each other, but they didn’t meet
until they came to Eagle Rock, where both worked in the kitchen of Cafe Beaujolais.
They became best friends, eventually taking the Beaujolais over as owners, and
for 20 years their successful French cafe served up what Gayot.com called “more
genuine bistro charm than most of their better known Westside counterparts,”
with the kind of “simple, unpretentious fare you’d find at a family-run bistro in
Paris.”
We asked Mathias why they decided to open in Pasadena. “My partner, Jean-
Christophe, has lived in Pasadena for 20 years with his wife and kids. So our
families spent a lot of time there together. We never wanted a second restaurant
location, but we always used to look at that particular spot on Green Street, where
there was already a restaurant [Ración], and we used to say it would be a perfect
place for a bistro like ours. Then it became available and we couldn’t resist. So we
sold our shares in Beaujolais and made the move.”
Asked about his holiday food memories growing up in France and his thoughts
on holiday cooking, he said, “Where we’re from, on the Riviera, is different from
big cities like Paris or L.A. We come from small coastal villages, so everything
has to have fish. There was no special holiday dish I remember growing up. We
always ate bouillabaisse, even at the holidays. We grew up with that, we love it and
we serve it as much as we can at Entre Nous. Of course it’s not exactly the same
as in France because we don’t have the rockfish here that we have there. The fish
we serve here depends on the daily catch. Whatever is the most fresh and highest
quality at the market that day is what we put in our fish stew. We also had sea bass
in France growing up. We serve that over lentils at Entre Nous, along with mussels
and all sorts of other great regional dishes that are like those where we’re from. We
have amazing escargots on the menu that we import directly from the Burgundy
region.” Most popular so far in the restaurant’s short tenure, he says, is ribeye steak
with peppercorn sauce and fries.
Is there something special he’d recommend for a small casual holiday dinner
party? “Anything French,” he says with a chuckle. “You might try serving mussels
and homemade French fries with a green salad afterward, which is when the
French serve their salads. And perhaps a crème brûlée for dessert.”
Moules Provençales (Mussels)
Proportions are for one order
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 ounces white wine
1 pound mussels
2 ounces heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt
Method
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large sauté pan on high heat, then add shallots,
white wine and mussels. Cover, and when the mussels start opening, add heavy
cream, 2 tablespoons butter, parsley, pepper and a small pinch of sea salt. Cover
again. When mussels are all open, remove them to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
Reduce the liquid in the pan by one-third, taste for seasoning, pour liquid over
mussels and sprinkle generously with more freshly chopped parsley. Enjoy with
homemade French fries.
14 | ARROYO |12.18