La Ferme: New Chef and Ownership

Since it opened La Ferme (originally Bistro Gastronomie) has been one of our favorite restaurants in West Boca. From a business perspective it has been a bumpy ride. The original owners under Bistro Gastronomie sold to the Shapiros who renamed it La Ferme. They originally stuck with Chef Walden but later switched to one new chef and maybe another. It’s our understanding the Shapiros did a good job of building up the business and this made it an attractive purchase for the new owner, Alan Luckner.
Farid Oualidi is the new chef. He has been working there for about a year under the previous chef. Here’s an interview with him from back in 2009.
With the latest changes in mind they invited us to visit. Disclosure: Our meal was free.
La Ferme is on the north side of Yamato between 441 and Lyons Road, in the same plaza as Doris Market.

There is a regular menu which is expensive – but worth it, and there is also a “Dining to Dusk” menu. That’s available to 7 pm on most days but only until 6 pm on Friday and Saturday. On that deal you get three courses for $32, though some items may increase that price.
The interior has not changed since our last review.
As usual we enjoyed our meal. We started with the Gougeres appetizer, pieces of bread with Gruyère cheese in the middle, almost like a pastry. It came with so much we didn’t come close to finishing it.

They also brought us out their regular bread basket. We normally don’t mention that but the raisin bread that was included is delicious. The other bread in the basket might have been sourdough.

We also had a Caesar Salad, which was very good. Note that it came with some anchovy on top. If you don’t like that be sure to let them know when you order.

One of the best items we had was the Vichysoisse, a cold soup. It was brilliant. As I ate it I noticed both the creamy texture and hints of various flavors, all going well together. When you order off the regular menu it is topped with some smoked salmon that was very high quality. As we understand it that is not included if you order it off the Dining to Dusk menu.

It’s worth mentioning that the service was excellent. There were multiple staff members coming to our table, refilling water glasses, straightening napkins if someone left the table, clearing plates (and very politely), etc. We were provided fresh silverware for every course. We never had to ask for anything.
We had two entrees. The short ribs is a great dish. The meat is so tender you don’t need a knife. It’s also beautiful to look at:

The filet mignon was wonderful. There was a choice of three sauces and we went with a “spicy” peppercorn. It wasn’t so spicy as to need a warning and it was a great sauce. If there was one weakness that night it was how the steak was cooked. We ordered it medium rare and it was somewhere between medium and medium well. Regardless, it was delicious. I ordered a glass of a French Pinot Noir with the meal and it paired perfectly with the steak.

The filet comes with fries. They’re good but we’d like to see other options for sides with a $42 entree.
We also tried a few desserts. First up was the apple tart with vanilla ice cream. We’ve had this one before and still like it.

Next was the Mousse Cake, and we loved it. The berries it came with were fresh and juicy.

Last was the Double Chocolate Fudge which came with chocolate “barts” on the side. This was also very good.

Overall La Ferme is still one of our favorite restaurants in West Boca. If you’re going out for a special dinner and you’re ready to spend for it, you really can’t do better anywhere nearby. Their only real competition at this level are Armadillo Cafe on Glades and Butcher Block Grill on Powerline, but their menus are so different that it’s hard to compare them.