Jamie M.
Yelp
Francine is fabulous. I could tell you more, and I will. But if you don't have time to read the rest of this review, just know that this place is special and you should go.
Ambiance: Francine is located within Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale. The atmosphere is chic and has a luxurious feel. Francine's decor is modern, with light colored walls and furniture with contrasting dark wood floors and ceiling. The lighting is warm and the bar is stunning-colorful liquor bottles line the mirrored shelves that are lit behind by the same warm lighting.
Service: The service was quite good. We mostly interacted with our server, who at his core seemed to be a performer and to truly enjoy his work. He was friendly and chatted with the kiddo about attending ASU, as he also studies there. Our server was very knowledgeable about the restaurant itself and the dishes. The bussers were also very attentive at clearing plates and filling up water glasses.
Food: The food made my gluten and dairy avoiding heart so happy. I ordered the crab and shrimp salad and the ratatouille. The salad was stunning and delicious-with plenty of fresh crab, shrimp, and avocado, perfectly dressed. If I had one critique of this salad it would be that that there were a few too many red onions for my liking. I also ordered the ratatouille because a carb is a necessary component of a meal for me. So the dish is actually called "ratatouille tian," which means that the ratatouille is baked in one dish-this is the tian. Lining the bottom is a thick, tomatoey sauce packed with flavor. On top are thinly sliced roasted eggplant and squash. This was the best ratatouille of my life. Veggies aren't usually the star of the show, but I'd have to say their ratatouille tian is the exception to the general rule.
The kiddo ordered the steak frites and noted that the steak was perfectly cooked (medium rare), and that his peppercorn sauce was good, but he missed having actual peppercorns in the sauce.
My partner ordered the burger with fries. He was pleasantly surprised that it came with two hamburger patties instead of just one. I got to steal a few of his fries which were crispy and well seasoned.
For dessert, the kiddo ordered the profiteroles. Now, because I have to limit my dairy intake, I only had a couple of bites. But the dessert was excellent. There was a bit of a mixup with the kitchen so our dessert was delayed quite a bit, but once it arrived it did not take us long to finish it. The profiteroles, which were sitting in a shallow pool of chocolate sauce, were filled with ice cream and a white chocolate ganache. What I appreciate about this dish is that many restaurants sandwich the profiteroles with only ice cream in between, which makes the profiterole too cold to really taste the flavor. And then all you can detect is the flavor of the ice cream and the texture of the profiterole, but not the taste. To me, that's just a waste of a profiterole. They didn't do that here. There was the right ratio of ice cream to ganache so you can still taste the flavor of the profiteroles, the ganache, ice cream, and chocolate sauce in one wonderful bite.
I have no doubt we'll be back when visiting Scottsdale.