Foreigner Restaurant in Audubon Park offers everyone a place at the table

Bruno Fonseca hustled his way through the high-end kitchens of Norman's and Bern's Steak House, operated the 5 Gastronomy food truck and even taught culinary students the basics at Le Cordon Bleu. But it wasn't until the Brazilian-born chef opened Millenia 106 that he truly found his cooking voice — local, seasonal fare peppered with Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian flavors that resonated with the restaurant's captivated audience. When he staged a series of pop-ups under the "Foreigner Experience" banner, that voice found expression through a trust-the-chef confiance menu that had Fonseca play up his creative and plating skills while doubling down on seasonality and provenance. Now at the Foreigner, the 25-year restaurant vet is letting that voice sing, and those accented notes carry through one of the more handsome restaurant spaces in the city.

Whistles are wetted with a welcome mocktail and guests are led to a 10-seat bar, where Fonseca personally welcomes everyone before going over the restaurant's ethos. Local purveyors from Sugar Top Farms to C-M Bakari to Kelly's Seafood are given their due. All the while, Fonseca's merry band of foreigners — Téo Lemaire, a sous chef from Cannes; Rami Ayoub, the Syrian somm; and Tracy Tran, a server with Vietnamese roots; not to mention chef Jeremy Gross from faraway Philly — diligently do their thing.

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photo by Rob Bartlett

In my three visits, in March, April and June, Fonseca has altered his 10-course menu ($175) each time. "We change it every month. Two dishes are static, three are more of a seasonal change, and five are monthly changes," he says.

Fonseca always starts with a poached Pacific Northwest oyster buried beneath a warm potato-turnip mousse, lemon, brown butter crumble and Ossetra caviar. It makes for a solid start, this lovin' spoonful, and never fails to draw nods around the bar. The tomato salad, a personal favorite enjoyed on my last two visits, has Sugar Top's finest slicked with Banyuls and Champagne vinegars placed atop a chervil-dusted labneh/goat cheese mousse. On top rests a chilled quenelle of Aleppo pepper and olive oil sorbet, draped with sea beans for a pleasant crunch.

Wines are poured for those who opt for the optional ($80) or reserve pairing ($150), and plates and utensils are cleared quietly and efficiently while meticulous preparations are made for the ensuing courses. Yet the Foreigner never feels full of itself. At no point during any of my meals here did I get the sense that Fonseca et al. are out to chase Michelin stars or James Beard Awards. While they're serious about what they do, they don't take themselves very seriously, which makes the Foreigner very approachable. So if you consider yourself a restaurant star chaser, you might want to check such pretensions at the door. That's because Fonseca's dishes feel like comfort food — elevated, beautifully plated and impeccably dressed comfort food, yes, but comfort food nonetheless.

Sample his charcoal banana tartlet with foie, coconut Chantilly and port wine caramel and it'll be abundantly clear. Or Australian wagyu strip tartare "au poivre" with green peppercorns, oyster aioli (for depth) and shaved bottarga (for umami). It's served with celery root puffs and it goes down oh-so-easily. So does aged, hay-smoked duck, pressed and plated with an orange puree, beets and a white asparagus vanilla salad sprinkled with hazelnuts.

Aesthetics don't take a back seat here — not in the attractive rabbit ballotine, and not in the charcuterie plate comprising intriguing cuts like golden tile mortadella and swordfish black cumin bacon sitting alongside jamon Iberico de bellota. But just because they're pretty doesn't mean some dishes don't falter — undercooked ravioli in the spring pasta; rubbery octopus in the lobster-and-duck-based bouillabaisse; and grit in the razor clams. Some of my companions weren't as fond of the seafood cuts of charcuterie as others, though all agreed C-M Bakari's "triple black" sourdough bread containing activated charcoal, black cocoa and black pepper (served with an equally dark butter fashioned from black garlic, black truffles and porcini) was a pleaser. Probably why it's another menu constant.

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photo by Rob Bartlett

Dessert is served, consciously, at a communal table and, for those who footed an extra $20, coffee, macarons, bonbons and petit fours too. The get-together is an opportunity to engage with other diners, which can go a number of ways. On my first visit, I wanted to grab a guest's iPad-sized camera light, which had blinded me throughout dinner, and give it the proper Sean Penn treatment. But I resisted the urge. This was the Foreigner, after all — a welcoming space; a space rooted in inclusivity; a space where worlds and, yes, even cultures collide. So full credit to Fonseca for making xenophiliacs out of all of us. He may be a foreigner, but he's no stranger to offering everyone a place at the table.