By Teresa Engebretsen

Special to The Herald-Sun

I love to read books about food, chefs and cooking. When Ann Prospero’s book “Chefs of the Triangle: Their Lives, Recipes, and Restaurants” appeared on bookstore shelves late in the summer of 2009, I eagerly bought a copy and attended the reading she gave on the UNC campus during the North Carolina Literary Festival.

She had invited Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner and Bret Jennings of Elaine’s on Franklin to join her. Ann read from the chapters devoted to these two chefs and then allowed the audience to ask them questions. Afterwards, there was a tent set up outside so that the three of them could sign the book. The chefs also brought goodies for us to sample.

Chef Smith’s brownies were the best I’ve ever eaten. Ann and I were pen pals, but we hadn’t met until that afternoon. After reading her book, I made up my mind to eat at as many of the restaurants in the book as possible. A worthy goal, I think. Eat great food, maybe get to meet the chefs, and support local businesses.

Santa found out about my idea and decided to help. Under the tree this year, I found dinner reservations for 8 p.m. on Dec. 26 at Rue Cler, a French restaurant in downtown Durham. When the restaurant first opened in October 2006, the name caught my eye. Rue Cler is a pedestrian street in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. I discovered it several years ago and I stay in a hotel in that neighborhood whenever I go back. There are cafés, restaurants, hotels, food shops, banks and a post office all on that little street.

I eagerly anticipated my dinner at Rue Cler. I went online and checked out the menu and read a bit about the history of the restaurant and the staff. I reread Ann’s chapters on the chefs. I ate sparingly that day, saving my appetite for dinner. I am not a food critic and I really do not eat out very often; therefore, it is quite a treat when my husband and I go out.

It was a quiet evening at Rue Cler. The décor is very simple. A few photos of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, hang on a wall. Wine bottles line a shelf near the high ceiling. The dining room probably seats 40. There is a bar, with a television. I chose from the prix fixe menu. This is a very French concept, allowing the chef to basically choose for you, an idea I love. I do not want to make too many decisions when I eat out.

The wine list is very simple, another plus. I chose lamb wrapped in kale for my entrée and my husband was having salmon with fingerling potatoes and asparagus, so we settled on a carafe of dry rosé. A great choice, even in December. The trout rillettes I had as my second course, served with house made crackers and cornichons, small pickles, was the most memorable part of my meal. Rillettes is similar in texture to pâté and is smooth and spreadable. It is traditionally made with pork, but can be made with other meats or fish.

After our dinner at Rue Cler, I decided to be brave and contact John Vandergrift and Chris Stinnett, co-owners of Rue Cler (and Pop’s, behind Brightleaf Square), to find out if I could ask them some questions. John granted my request and we met for about an hour. I asked him how he chose the name. He told me that his parents moved to Paris because of a job transfer and they lived near Rue Cler. He feels the same way about the street as I do. He said that he and Chris have even thought of trying to replicate Rue Cler on East Chapel Hill Street, near the downtown post office.

John has worked in restaurants since the age of 14. He found work in various kitchens in Paris, even working for Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard, two of France’s most famous chefs. At one point, John says his pay included one kitchen tool per week, chosen by his employers. He received a knife the first week. The challenge was getting all of his gadgets home after a two-and-a-half-year stay. He ended up in Durham, where Chris was already at work with well-known local chefs, including Ben Barker. They both worked at Nana’s for Scott Howell and eventually bought Pop’s from him. Opening Rue Cler enabled them to bring their wholesale bakery business to downtown Durham from its north Durham location.

Rue Cler allows the chefs to be creative with the prix fixe dinner menus while still offering traditional items found in Parisian restaurants. Many of my favorite French dishes are on the menu — croque-monsieur, a type of grilled ham and cheese sandwich, salade niçoise, steak-frites, coq au vin, onion soup, mussels, and crème brûlée. Rebecca, one of my seventh-grade students, told me that she recently had lunch at Rue Cler with her mom. She said, “I liked my steak-frites because the steak was tender and was cooked rare enough so that it didn’t lose its taste, which can often happen. It was delicious!” Well said, Rebecca.

For more information visit their website at www.ruecler-durham.com.

For more information, read Teresa Engebretsen’s food blog at http://thesabbaticalchef.blogspot.com/.

Rue Cler’s Coq Au Vin

Serves 4 to 6

Small bag of pearl onions

3- to 4-pound chicken, cut in pieces

1 cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons cooking oil

6 strips bacon, diced

4 stalks celery, diced to same size as pearl onions

3 carrots, diced to same size as pearl onions

4 cups red wine

3 cups chicken stock

2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme

½ cup butter, softened

Peel pearl onions by cutting a small x in the root end of each. Pour boiling water over onions and soak for 2 minutes, then drain. Cut off root ends with a paring knife; the papery skin will peel right off. To save time, peel onions up to 2 days ahead, then chill.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dust chicken with flour and add salt and pepper. In a braising pan or pot, heat oil over medium heat and brown chicken. Remove chicken, add bacon, and render until brown.

Add pearl onions, celery, and carrots and brown in fat with bacon for 4 to 5 minutes. Deglaze with red wine and place chicken back in over vegetables. Bring to a boil and add chicken stock, thyme, and more salt and pepper. Bring to a boil again.

Cover with foil and place in oven for 1½ hours. Remove from oven and check tenderness of chicken; if not tender, return to oven in 20-minute increments. Remove from oven, let rest 10 minutes, then remove chicken from the pot. Add butter and stir to thicken. Adjust seasoning. Replace chicken and serve with crusty bread.