My spouse and I dined at Leunig’s Bistro for lunch on a
Friday afternoon in late September 2018. Leunig’s is open daily from 11:00 am
until 10:00 pm (with earlier opening hours on Sundays, and later closing hours
on weekends). You can book a table using the online Reserve dot com reservation
system; however, we arrived as walk-ins.
Leunig’s Bistro opened in 1980 as a coffee shop and cafe
that has the feel of Paris, France in Burlington, Vermont. It is located on the
pedestrian-only Church Street Marketplace, at the corner of Church and College
Streets. Technically, Leunig’s occupies space on both the northwest and the
northeast corners, because they operate not only the full-service bistro, but
also Petit Bijou, a European-style outdoor kiosk that sells coffee and pastries
(in the space previously occupied by Bluebird). The restaurant’s male co-owner (who
started out years ago as a bartender there) was onsite that afternoon to seat
guests, and his female co-owner works as the restaurant’s executive chef. This
winning team even chooses one day per month to donate 10% of their daily sales
to a local charity, as well as to make other donations and host charitable events
throughout the year.
Guests dine in several places, the most preferable of
which is in the front dining/bar room at tables that provide views of Church
Street while also feeling part of the bustling bar scene. A small side dining
area with a partial glass atrium roof allows patrons to see the passersby on
College Street. A third dining room is located a few steps up from the main
floor, which creates a calmer dining spot. Upstairs on the second floor, an
art-deco inspired lounge offers cocktail, small plates, and complete dinners in
the evenings. The street-level dining rooms have tin ceilings, a cream-colored
antique-looking wood/mirror back bar, chandeliers, a large floor clock, mustard-colored
walls, and burgundy tablecloths.Leunig’s Bistro serves cuisine with a French influence. As we sat down, our server immediately informed us that they were out of fish and chips, which we joked with her about, since the restaurant had just opened for the day 5 minutes before we arrived. (She explained that they had recently switched over to their fall menu and had not yet received their fish.) At our server’s recommendation, we shared the poutine to start (a little light on the cheese curds and gravy, but on the other hand, it was topped with a few thin slices of amazingly delicious crispy duck skin). Next, we ordered the duck Reuben (duck confit topped with red cabbage and served with a green side salad; we asked the server if the bread was grilled, and she responded yes; however, the bread was merely toasted and not grilled on a flattop to produce a hard buttery exterior) and the cavatappi carbonara (pasta topped with chicken, Bacon, Tomatoes, and peas tossed in a creamy Parmesan sauce). For dessert, we shared the Oreo-crusted coconut cream pie (a unique take on one of our favorite dishes, the chocolate crust was not overpowering but merely complemented the coconut cream) and the cheese plate (a generous portion of the Blue Ledge “Camembrie” (a Camembert-Brie mix), which arrived with a tremendous plating that included fruits, nuts, and crackers). Although we did not order it, as you would expect from a French bistro, the steak frites is a popular menu selection; Leunig’s butchers over 400 pounds of meat per week in order to serve as many as 100 plates per night on a busy summer weekend evening.
We loved dining out for lunch on Leunig Bistro’s sidewalk
terrace as we watched the passersby on the Church Street Marketplace.
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