For weeks the country watched as our incredible team of Olympic athletes performed in Paris, France. Everything from gymnastics to swimming and basketball to breakdancing, all the games were so inspiring to watch set against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. For me, it mostly inspired my appetite for French food. I woke up wanting a café and a croissant for breakfast, salade niçoise for lunch, and moules-frites for dinner with crepes for dessert.
Lucky for me, Aixois Sud (South) opened right before the Summer Olympics kicked off, taking over the former Pig & Finch Gastropub space in the Park Place shopping center in Leawood. The space had been vacant since 2022 when Emmanuel and Megan Langlade, who own Aixois Bistro in the Crestwood Shops, and the head chef Simon Soeun decided it was time to open a southern outpost of their popular French restaurant. Aixois Sud opened in late June.
Twenty-three years ago, Emmanuel and Megan Langlade opened their original Aixois bistro at the far west end of the historic Crestwood Shops, naming the restaurant after Emmanuel’s hometown in the south of France, Aix-en-Provence. Packed with hungry patrons from the moment they opened the doors in 2001, the menu has always reflected the chef’s favorite French bistro dishes, with a nice French wine list to match. The shady outdoor patio has always been a popular spot for neighbors to sit with a glass of wine or cup of coffee and enjoy views of lush green grass, tall trees and the cute cottage-style houses in the neighborhood.
The partners reached out to John O’Brien, owner of Hammer Out Design, with whom they had worked previously, for help making this former gastropub feel more like a chic Parisian bistro. A magic man with an artful eye, a builder’s soul, and a knack for finding the right antiques to give a place a sense of time and place, O’Brien and his team of artisans brought new charm to the space, adding plenty of dark wood, a handsome wine cellar and cherry-red upholstery on the French café chairs and banquettes. In the dining room, glossy mustard-colored tiles on the wall frame the open kitchen, and a smattering of white, round globe lights dot the space, giving it a proper Parisian bistro glow. Guests will find seating on one side of the bar with both high- and low-top tables surrounding it. Outside, a large patio faces Barkley Square centered in the Park Place shopping center.
The menu is almost identical to the one at Aixois in Crestwood, with the notable exception of some pizzas that were added to the menu because the kitchen at Aixois Sud already had a pizza oven. As much as I love pizza, I knew what I was there to eat.
A chilly glass of perfectly pink Chateau Montaud Provence rosé and a fizzy Lillet Blanc spritz along with escargot bourguignon—Burgundy snails in garlic herb butter—kicked off our dinner. The basket of sliced French baguette and slab of European butter that arrived at our table simultaneously satisfied my French food craving with the first bite. Brown button mushrooms and tender escargot bobbed up and down in the bright green herbaceous and sinfully garlicky butter sauce that was eagerly sopped up with the bread.
The soup du jour, a zesty gazpacho listed on the specials menu, was made with perfectly ripened heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, garlic, vinegar, and an undefinable something that heightened the perfect kick of heat. A drizzle of olive oil and slices of creamy avocado topped it off.
The menu featured four choices of steamed mussels: the traditional moules marinières, which are steamed with white wine, shallots, and fresh herbs; and three cream-based options: one with saffron, one with Roquefort blue cheese, and a new option with a curry cream sauce. The head chef Simon Soeun hails from Cambodia, where curry dishes are common, so that inspired my choice.
The perfectly steamed mussels were served in a squat, black-lidded pot. Inside, slick black mussel shells popped open to reveal the prize inside—a single bite of plump, moist, and tender meat. Although the intoxicating scent of each individual spice in the curry rose as I removed the lid, there was sadly little rich curry flavor in the cream sauce. It felt like the kitchen was fearful of adding too much curry in the dish. To that I say, people who order curry, want to taste the curry in the dish. However, the French fries aside the mussels were generously heaped on a large plate, and they were hot, thin, crispy, and perfectly seasoned. An absolute joy to eat, it almost made up for my less than curried cream sauce. Instead of dunking the fries in the sauce the mussels were steamed in, I requested mayo and ketchup.
The burger at Aixois Sud is playfully called the Royale with Cheese, which is a line from the movie Pulp Fiction. John Travolta relates that at McDonald’s in Paris, they call a quarter pounder with cheese a royale with cheese because they use the metric system. Here, a royale with cheese is a thick, prime beef patty perfectly cooked to your preference, sandwiched between a soft bun, and topped with gooey gruyere cheese, lettuce, and tomato. It’s accompanied with the aforementioned fries and a mixed-greens salad that always tastes way more impressive than it looks due to the sublime French vinaigrette. It’s hard not to love a good bistro burger, and while the smash burger is having a moment in Kansas City, it was nice to bite into a thicker patty of ground beef for a change.
The dessert menu listed crepes filled with a variety of sweet things, and more traditional French desserts, such as profiteroles, mousse au chocolat, and Aixois’s famous île flottante. The floating island dessert consists of a steamed or baked meringue floating on a sea of crème anglaise. We discussed sharing but could not agree on which one, so we each ordered our own crepe. Each was folded into a perfect triangle and generously filled, one with rich, chocolate hazelnut spread and tart slices of strawberries, and the other slathered in that delicious European butter sprinkled with sugar, giving it a slight, sweet crunch.
With a restaurant this pretty serving a familiar French food and drink menu and a band of regulars thrilled to have this popular French bistro so close to their own home, Aixois Sud may not be competing for Olympic gold, but it looks like they are certainly winning.