The Spot: Caribou Cafe

We always hear about the shiny, new restaurants. The Spot is a series about the Philadelphia area's more established dining establishments and the people behind them.

Olivier Desaintmartin always knew he wanted to cook. Growing up in Champagne, France, he cooked alongside his mother and grandmother, and enjoyed every minute of it (plus, he didn't foresee a long career in the other love of his life - decathlon sports). After graduating from the Hotel School of Paris in 1977, he cooked under several of Paris' best chefs, until word came down that Gilbert Le Coze was looking for talented, young cuisiniers to cross the Atlantic with him and open an American version of Le Bernardin.

In 1986, Desaintmartin made the move to New York City, and became part of the staff that would lead Le Bernardin to its first four-star New York Times review — a distinction the restaurant maintains to this day (and has held longer than any other spot).

An adventure then took Desaintmartin to New Caledonia, a French territory near Australia, to open a hotel restaurant for a friend, but a couple years later there was a coup, and he returned to the U.S. Recession made finding a job in NYC nearly impossible, which is how Desaintmartin ended up as chef of the newly renovated Bellevue hotel when it opened on Broad Street in 1989.

In 1996, the chef became a partner in Dock Street Brewery (where the Logan Square branch of City Tap House is now), and opened a brasserie there serving house-brewed beers, but he soon realized he wanted his own place. After searching for several years, he came across Bruno Pouget, a fellow French emigré who was looking to get out of the restaurant business and devote more time to real estate.

Pouget had opened a coffeehouse in 1988 called Caribou Cafe at 24th and Lombard (where Rival Bros. is now), and then moved it to 12th and Walnut a year or so later, expanding the menu to include some savory items. He added a liquor license in 2001, but within a couple of years he was ready to divest. Pouget and Desaintmartin made a handshake agreement, and in June 2003, the ownership passed from one Frenchman to the other.

Desaintmartin fleshed out the menu, revamped the kitchen, added seating and turned the restaurant into what he'd always dreamed of running: a true, classic French bistro. Since then, he's been busy: opening a second bistro (Zinc), getting certified as a Master Chef of France, winning an episode of Food Network's Chopped and, just last year, opening French rotisserie cafe and market Petit Roti.

At a table on the mezzanine overlooking the wood-columned booths of his original bistro, Desaintmartin took some time to contemplate his position in the Philly dining scene, offering opinions on BYOBs, the restaurant boom and what it might be like during Pope Francis' visit.

This restaurant was named Caribou Cafe when you bought it - do you know where the name came from?

Bruno [Pouget] was partners with a Canadian fellow back in '89 when they first opened on Lombard Street. There you have it, that's it!

How did you end up buying the place?

After Dock Street, I wanted my own restaurant, and for two years, I looked and looked. Then I came across Bruno. He wanted out. First he hired me as his chef, and during that time I developed the menu and we also worked on the transactions. It was the dictionary definition of a turn-key operation: On June 8, 2003, Bruno owned the place. On June 9, he came in, handed me the keys, then sat down and bought a coffee. He was my first customer. We did the whole thing very European style, just a handshake, no lawyers.

Did you make changes, after you took over?

Not many - I had already expanded the menu to include heartier dishes. I took out the offices upstairs and turned it into a dining room. I added a few banquettes downstairs; I bought them from Blue Angel, when Stephen Starr closed it. Around three years later I redid the kitchen.

Was there already sidewalk seating?

Yes! Bruno actually had the first patio license on Walnut Street. Even so, it's a battle every year. The city officials come with their measuring tapes and complain if we're an inch closer to the trees than we're supposed to be.

And the restaurant came with a liquor license?

He had just recently gotten a liquor license, yes. I'm not a BYOB guy, at all. When you go somewhere, you don't know the menu, so you don't necessarily know what wine to bring. And I'm not going to carry my aperitif and my wine and my after dinner drink - I want to go hands free, and just enjoy the conversation.

Do BYOBs offer cost savings for the customer, though?

I don't think so. Because, you might buy a bottle of wine for $15, but then your salmon, instead of costing $22, you're going to pay $32 or something. And also, what if you bring a bottle of wine and finish it? Then the night is done. Occasionally I do go to BYOBs, if a friend wants to, but I swear, I almost bring my whole bar with me.

In 2006, you opened Zinc, near 11th and Locust, in a former BYOB. Was it hard to obtain a liquor license?

Not really, not at the time. I think it cost around $65,000. And liquor licenses stayed at around that same price until really recently. All of a sudden it shot up to like $100,000 or more. Funny thing about Zinc is I meant for it to be a tapas bar with Foosball tables, for the Jefferson students. Modeled after Le Marais, which is my favorite neighborhood in Paris, but still casual. But here I am - serving white tablecloth food there. It's because of the clientele - people from Society Hill, they love it. They come in three times a week.

And you recently opened Petit Roti. Why open a third spot?

I always wanted to do rotisserie. I had a vision of opening a restaurant with a huge rotisserie and grill at the front, and that's all it served - roasted meats and grilled fish and vegetables. But I couldn't find a place to do it, plus it would have cost a lot of money. So when my landlord at Zinc told me the space next door was becoming available, I said, "Yes, let's do it."

You opened last December. Has it been successful?

Well, I spent too much money on it. My crazy architect came and ripped the whole interior out - it cost me three or four times what I wanted to spend. But it's cute, and the food is really, really good. I just have to get it going - I'm not a retail guy, I'm a restaurant guy. My niece is running it - she's a smartie. I don't have to tell her what to do; she just knows. I think in September when the Jefferson students come back, it'll be a new beginning for it.

Do you think Philadelphia has too many restaurants these days?

Well, I counted 37 new eating places opening around here in the past three years. Saladworks and Chipotle and Jake's and the pizza guy here and the pizza guy there and the pizza guy there... And then some of them close, too. Potbelly closed, Five Guys closed. What we need is some more stores that aren't restaurants. Also what we need is to bring a million more people to the city, and then everybody will be happy again.

What was your most memorable night at Caribou?

Well, I'm the kind of person that I like when I'm in trouble. A really great night was - remember the foie gras activists? From 2008 to 2011, they broke my windows many times; every time I wrote a special with foie gras on the window, they would throw rocks and break it. But there was one night, I think in 2010, when they brought a whole group of people and a megaphone, and started demonstrating in front of the restaurant.

Instead of discouraging foie gras, they encouraged it! All the tables started ordering foie gras! And the woman who sells me the foie gras, Ariane Daguin [of D'Artagnan] happened to be here that night, and she actually grabbed the megaphone out of their hands. It was like a total opposite of what they wanted. And the police were here, so [the protesters] were only allowed to stay 40 minutes. It was a good night.

Was that your best night, business-wise?

Well, the best day we ever had here was when the Phillies won the World Series. They closed down Broad Street, and everyone was out. We did banging business; everyone did. I took away all the tables and people just filled up the whole space. I imagine that when the pope comes it could be similar, and maybe for more than one day. Plus, I love that guy; he's just really cool.

Caribou Cafe

1126 Walnut St., 215-625-9535

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Friday to Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday