Change can be a good thing. So can different. Guests enjoy plenty of both at the new Sunday family brunch at Le Bistro restaurant in Best Western Big Bear Chateau.

    Made-to-order omelettes and pasta, each starring a nearly endless stream of tasty ingredients to choose from, assure every creation is different from the last. Shrimp, sausage, olives, peppers, if you can name an ingredient it’s probably here, blended together right before your very eyes...and if it’s not an omelette you care for, they’ll scramble or fry eggs too. There’s even egg white or egg beaters options as well.

    But it’s not just the live action stations that guarantee a little variety in the Sunday brunch experience at Le Bistro, served 7 a.m.-2 p.m. The carving station, for instance, slices up prime rib one week, honeyglazed ham the next. One week it’s all-you-can-eat baby back ribs, then it’s tasty meat loaf—when was the last time you saw that served nice and pretty at Sunday brunch?

    Serving trays up and down the buffet line rotate week to week as well. Perhaps it’s chicken friend steak with country gravy or sausage patties, links, maybe even bacon. Potatoes are sometimes mashed, occasionally French fried, other times wedged, and the day’s vegetable offering might be glazed baby carrots, green beans or a medley. Baked beans, Mexican, fried or rice pilaf, potato salad, it all varies week to week so if you visited the Chateau last Sunday for brunch, a completely new experience awaits this weekend.

    “We try to make quality food, not mass-produced, but the best quality out there,” the hotel’s general manager Stan Lee says. “The buffet gets a fresh look every week. It makes it interesting because it changes every Sunday.”

    Fresh salmon is one constant at brunch—it’s offered every Sunday—but the preparation changes weekly, from baked to poached to grilled to pan fried. On our recent visit it was grilled, lightly seasoned with a hint of Cajun spice that gave the fish a gentle kick without being overpowering.

    Along the serving line wife Sandy and I found big thick pieces of bacon, crunchy and flavorful and not the wafer-thin strips I encountered at a Las Vegas buffet a few days before. French toast was fluffy and light, not the stale stuff at aforementioned Vegas buffet, and it came with hot syrup, just the way I like it. Corned beef hash, mashed potatoes, rice, carrots, vegetable medley...there was tons to choose from.

    The salad station is interesting, not a separate “bar” per se but well-stocked to be sure, given that guests can choose from all the ingredients that go into omelettes or pasta too. Along with cucumbers, red or green peppers, cherry tomatoes and more, all piled onto their choice of spinach leaves or mixed greens—both, if they prefer.

    Naturally, live action preparation is a showstopper at Le Bistro. Like pasta, which I indulged in. Choose the sauce, white or red—mine’s usually alfredo—then decide how you like it. For me, it’s garlic—an extra spoon, please—along with lots of tomato, basil and cilantro. I go with plenty of medium sized shrimp, but there’s also ham, sausage, a myriad of other ingredients to choose from.

    Chef Antonio Silva deftly swirls the pan back and forth like a spinning top. Soon tantalizing aromas fill the air, and in no time he’s asking whether I prefer angel hair, fettuccini or penne pasta—I go with the latter. Creamy sauce stuffed with shrimp spread over the noodles and all that garlic makes for a taste sensation indeed, almost like a thick and succulent scampi.

    As good as mine is, Sandy manages to one up it with her creation—though she cheats by getting Chef Silva’s advice to do it. Hers is also alfredo based, but features chicken and is absolutely superb.

    By the time we finish with all the food options, only Sandy has a passing interest in the well-stocked dessert table. There’s cookies, fruit, scrumptious-looking chocolate cake, and assorted muffins and rolls. but what catches her eye is an array of different cheesecakes. Besides traditional New York there’s blueberry topped and the most desirable chocolate swirl that she makes short work of...along with a white chocolate chip cookie.

    It’s important to note that this is family brunch, not just champagne brunch, though free-flowing bubbly is included among other beverages. Certainly on our visit there are a fair number of youngsters in the elegant Le Bistro dining room, where the walls are adorned by fine art amidst a garden setting. Prices are family-friendly too—just $14.95, 12 and under $8.95, four and under free. Plus, save 10% with the coupon on page 5--print it out on our PDF pages!

—by Marcus Dietz

    Le Bistro is at Best Western Big Bear Chateau, 42200 Moonridge Rd. Call (909) 866-6666.