Bijoux—Dallas TX
It is rather sad when a great restaurant slips up to become merely “good”, and that, I fear has happened to Bijoux. The restaurant has excellent pedigree, a somewhat unfortunate location, and a pretty good track record with me. This was, my fifth visit, and I saw the telltales signs of a restaurant that has begun to fail. For starters, there was no host on duty, so the sommelier (and co-owner with her chef husband) was on double duty and looking rather stressed for it. We were seated 35 minutes late for our reservation at a table that had been available since we entered the restaurant. We had called ahead to change the party size from six to five, and mentioned it again when we checked in, but our table was still set for six. Three different staff all asked whether we were expecting someone else before they finally removed the place-setting.
Service-wise, two well dressed and well trained waiters that looked like they might be brothers were efficient and unobtrusive, but managed to show off a little ‘tude while they were at it. They did work extremely well with each other though. The kiss of death for this wine lover, though, was when the first selection of wine was not available, their refusal to upgrade to better bottle at the same price. Over $8, they might have lost a customer for life—this on a check that exceeded $800. 
The food, fortunately, is still very good, though not quite as special as I remembered it. A smoked prawn appetizer was the hit of the night for me, though my steak (roasted filet) was perfectly prepared and tasty. The veal was only so-so, and a white fish (the name unfortunately now escapes me) was tasty but well short of spectacular. I only sampled a chocolate panacotta desert that was high on gelatin and low on chocolate for my taste. None of this was bad food, just to be clear. Just not quite up to the standard the restaurant has set in previous visits.
The crowd remains one of the older and stuffier in Dallas, due I am sure in part to the inexplicable location selection in a strip mall (albeit next to the most expensive neighborhood in the city). Our table of thirty-something immediately lowered the average age in the place by some 10 years—and it’s one of the few placed in this city I would feel uncomfortable without a jacket. Bijoux has fallen from memorable to just plain good, and that’s a shame. As a result of this last visit, it is losing it’s spot on my Dallas Top 10. Recommended
