Riverside's Authentic French American Bistro

Food + Drink Articles

Riverside's Authentic French American Bistro

by Joseph Cartolano
August 13, 2016
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In Riverside, located on Park Street, there is an authentic French American Bistro welcoming hungry customers. Orsay is an independent restaurant owned by Jonathan Insetta. The restaurant opened in August 2008. Following the crash of the stock market in September 2008, they managed to get through it and begin the journey. This restaurant has two dining rooms with personality. The front décor has white table cloths with elegant chandeliers and the back of the restaurant has an industrial, modern look. This gives their guests dining options for the kind of dining experience they are looking for. The name Orsay is in reference to the Museum De Orsay, which is Jon’s mother’s favorite museum in France.

The man who prepares and makes the food a culinary delight is Executive Chef Michael McKinney. Years ago Michael helped open Insetta’s first restaurant, CHEW in downtown. When Jon graduated from Culinary School in Upstate NY, he came back and opened up his award winning restaurant, and McKinney was the sous chef there. He stayed at Orsay for the first 2 and half years but left to take a cooperate job. Luckily he returned and they are happy to have him back. Orsay experiences a low staff turnover, and their goal is to make their staff better and help focus on supporting people with their college schedules. They have a close relationship with everybody.

The entrees at Orsay are focused on French techniques but incorporate southern influence. Their goal at the outset is to make a cuisine that is as comforting as possible. They focus on comfort food and nice portion sizes and go to locally sourced foodstuffs frequently so they can support local businesses. Seasonality and freshness are very important. I asked about their most popular entree for this year at Orsay, and it is Pan Roasted Fish; the servers like the Eden Farm Berkshire Pork Chop. You can have an entree that is southern or an entree that is traditionally Northern French.

Pan Roasted fish: Fresh catch of the day, Anson Mills Grown Grits (antebellum style), creamed corn, Eden Farms bacon, lobster roe butter, served with Upland Cress Salad on top.

I was fortunate to taste the Pan Roasted Fish and it was deliciously amazing. I definitely recommend this to anyone who comes here for the first time.

Another favorite food is their Pork-chop: an Eden Farms bowed in center cut pork chop, comes in outsation style with green apple and cabbage with bacon lardons and pommery mustard pan sauce.

A visit to Orsay will be a culinary experience you will not forget!