LIFESTYLE

The Dish: Eureka: Le Poulet Cajun still a favorite at Le Bilboquet in Palm Beach

M.M. Cloutier
Special to the Daily News
Le Poulet Cajun is the specialty dish at Le Bilboquet.

It’s not uncommon at Le Bilboquet to see patrons at their favorite tables with Le Poulet Cajun, one of the most popular dishes at the French bistro in Worth Avenue’s Via Encantada.

During the busy winter social season, “sometimes I walk around the restaurant and I see 50 (orders of) Cajun chicken being enjoyed. This makes me so happy because it’s not just any chicken, it’s a memory dish and one of our most-requested items,” said Le Bilboquet owner-partner Phillippe Delgrange.

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Le Poulet Cajun — spice-rubbed boneless chicken sliced and served with a beurre blanc-style sauce, diced tomatoes, frites and a mesclun salad — is a “memory dish” for Delgrange.

It’s not from an old family recipe, as some diners have guessed. Instead, think 1980s New York City, when Le Bilboquet was founded in the Upper East Side in 1986 and Delgrange and his culinary team wanted a chicken dish  that was "special and different,” he said.

“For months, we went through so many recipes and cooking methods, trying various recipes out on our clients. In the end, we had a eureka moment of combining over 20 spices in a secret multi-step cooking method that guarantees the most incredibly moist chicken.”

Le Bilboquet owner-partner Phillippe Delgrange

The recipe remains a secret.

As long as Le Bilboquet has a location in Palm Beach, the dish will be offered on the island, Delgrange said.

“The only complaint I’ve ever had is that it’s too big of a portion” and yet most people finish it, he said.