The Bistro on Park Avenue, Winter Park - Closed

I revisited (pre-blog) this German/French/American melange Thursday night. It's in an alley at the end of Park Ave (near Boca). It was formerly (pre-2006) Maison des Crepes. They boast about it being voted the most romantic restaurant in WP or Orlando, I even dispute that. The meal was mediocre. It reminded me (please excuse the very tiny portion of people that may get this reference) of Shippy's in Southampton. A "locals" place that serves ok, old world fare to an obdurate clientele. The "townie" in a cohort of big city satellite outposts. I tried the wienerschnitzel because I had had a crepe here before and I really didn't trust them to deliver on the other items and I didn't want to reward the presumptuous pricing calculation. The schnitzel was pretty good. Over salted. Not on the bone. It cost $21 (too much by far). I think it's $14 at most of the German restaurants in town. The mashed potatoes were terrible. Maybe the first time I haven't finished a serving. They said they just had butter and half and half in them. Something curdled in there. It tasted sour and you could see "ricotta" like curds in it. The squash slices were over garlic-ed. The cherry tomatoes were sweet. The vegetables weren't overcooked. I didn't get bread. Not that I wanted it. Other tables did. Service was good, though it seemed like a two and a half person staff. For dinner! One in the kitchen. One serving. And an owner floating as a dinner guest/host. I can't imagine the chaos if they get a full house. The menu is all over the place and dull. The three apps are banal (seafood dip) and cost as much as an entree should. Most entrees besides a $12 burger and some salads and the crepes are over $20. The drinks are similarly over priced. They have an extensive set of special deals that get monotonous to keep up with. I would guess this serves their mantra of fleecing the few tourists or "romantic spot" believers without thoroughly alienating their older, budget conscious, repeat customers. The place seats about 80. Thirty six in the enclosed patio, forty in a hardly romantic inside room, ten in a "private, one table loft and four at the bar. There were eight others (couples) there on Thursday. It has been roughly ten years since I was last there and it probably will be another ten before I return. I don't hate it. I just have a lot of choice and I can live without anything they do/have. I didn't help that they would put on the AC. Now that I think about it, all the warning signs are there that it is a "dead business walking" and it won't be there in another ten years. The "romance" boils down to being in that alley and enclosing a brick patio and hanging Christmas lights around the periphery. Pretty pedestrian if you ask me.