Three Square Bistro

Three Square Bistro
140 Hidden Valley Pkwy # A
Norco, CA 92860

It can’t be stressed enough that the restaurant industry is indeed a fickle mistress, one that not only robs the budding entrepreneurs of time spent with his friends and family but all the while threatens—at every possible moment—the potential to spit them out on the street, douse the fires under their pots and close their doors forever. Sweaty palms and sleepless nights are prerequisites upon signing the lease to any building that will house a restaurant.

However, it isn’t that rare these days to find a restaurant owned by a large conglomerate that is well fortified by a wide bottom line and countless links to their chain, but what is rare is to meet a charismatic young couple with the courage and energy to stand against the odds and open a restaurant unlike any other so far in the area. To make it more of a cliffhanger, they both quit lucrative jobs to make it happen.

Meet John and Janet Lee, owners of the newly opened Three Square Bistro in Norco, and upon the first handshake it is obvious they are not only devoted to their dream but also not afraid to roll up their sleeves and take command of it. I mean, where in the restaurant world does the owner himself escort you to your table with a charming smile and a genuine welcome? And not until you spend a few minutes with them do you meet their alter egos behind the charm: two passionate, hard working and eager-to-succeed individuals with a drive only the truly diligent can muster. They’re the American Dream incarnate.

Boiled down, the Three Square Bistro story began on Christmas Day 2005 in Los Angeles, and, over dinner with Janet’s brother (operator of a sushi bar in some place called Norco), they revisited the long-standing discussion about starting a restaurant. After all, Janet was no stranger to the workings of the food service business, having been a real estate lawyer for the parent company of Panda Express, and John, all the while passionate about cooking but hardly ever having the chance (a childhood ambition was to be a chef), was growing tired of the dental supplies manufacturing industry. To them, that Christmas Day, the allure of owning their own restaurant grew to a boiling point that flashed when Janet’s brother told her that a
location was available right next door to his sushi place in Norco.

They decided to do it. “After all, we’re still young and we don’t have kids yet,” explains Janet over a mouthwatering rack of braised short ribs that I’m dying to sink my teeth into. “So why not take a chance and try it.”

The dye was cast, jobs were quit, leases signed, equipment purchased, chefs hired, menus planned and tables set. The front doors were opened in mid September 2006, but at the time they only offered two of the three squares, not adding breakfast until only a couple of weeks ago. If you were hard pressed to classify the fare, it would fit in that widely-defined arrangement called California Cuisine, but the menu is so vast and varied they have a hard time fitting it all on the pages. They offer 17 different sandwiches for lunch, for example, and those are completely different sandwiches not just variations on the ham and cheese theme: Grilled Four Cheeses, Sirloin Steak Sandwich, Pastrami Reuben…et al. Items for a classic breakfast are varied from French toast, waffles and pancakes to build-your-own omelets (with
their most popular being the crab, asparagus and mushroom omelet), and those for lunch and dinner are as varied as cheese steaks, pastrami sandwiches, jambalaya, chicken and shrimp, ribs and steaks, not to mention all of the dishes in between that you would normally expect(and a few that I wouldn’t have like the Breakfast Penne—pasta for breakfast sounds intriguing).

One detail that you’ll be hard pressed to find at another establishment is a revolving menu. John and Janet’s plan is to change about 20 percent of the menu every quarter, cycling in and out recipes and dishes with the seasons. “We want to set up a winter menu and a summer menu,” explains Executive Chef Leo Mendoza, to always offer something different for their regular customers. “People need change from their regular routine.” In addition to the innovative items on the menu, it is important to note that they make everything right on the premises. “Nothing is store bought and nothing is frozen,” John told me. From their sauces and soups to their desserts, “Everything is made in-house.”

Their location—tucked away next door to that giant “always on sale” furniture store on the south side of Hidden Valley that keeps going out of business but is forever replaced by another giant “always on sale” furniture store—unfortunately isn’t going to afford them a host of drive-by diners in search of something new to try, but so far, by simple word of mouth, they are doing a brisk business, with each month’s figures being larger than the ones previous. Inside, the décor is purposely Spartan with marble tables, ample booths, cherry wood chairs and some modestly eclectic artwork, but it doesn’t lend itself to an overpowering theme, allowing you to focus your attention on what is important: conversation with your friends and the food, which makes a big splash when it’s placed in front of you.

Speaking of which…

Put in chronological order, I started with breakfast and their widely popular Bistro Pancake, which delightfully resembled a pie shell succulently bathed in butter and powdered sugar. It is a German-style pancake, meaning that it is baked in an oven rather than fried on a skillet, and that really makes all the difference in the world to someone who has never had one before. “Traditional” pancakes are heavy as if laden down by the batter they’re whipped up from, but the Bistro Pancake is light and puffy with crisp edges that almost elevate it to that ever lofty goal of being a dessert, so much so that I hesitated in adding any syrup, allowing the pastry to stand up on its own (if you don’t think a pancake can be a pastry, you need to try
this one).

Within the blink of an eye, I was able to fast forward to lunch, and from the kitchen came two of their specialties, The Bistro Burger and the Turkey & Asparagus Melt. First to arrive is the Melt, accompanied by their very popular sweet potato fries and, most important to any fries connoisseur such as myself, a specially concocted honey butter dipping sauce sprinkled with cinnamon. Even though I would have expected that combination on a doughnut, it sparkled the flavor of the sweet potatoes and was a welcomed change to ketchup or ranch dressing for certain. The turkey was presented in four small rolls within the slices of the toasted country oat bread, and wrapped in each of those rolls was a stick of asparagus. Provolone cheese, alfalfa sprouts and tomatoes are lightly brushed with a Thousand Island dressing, and the whole thing simply falls apart in your mouth, right were it should. The flavor is light but full—all the while tasting healthy—and each element is a complement to each other, rounding out to an overall pleasing experience.

Be prepared for the Bistro Burger, as it is one of those difficult-to-eat burgers that require an extra napkin, but, don’t worry, as it is well worth the mess. The secret is not to put it down, which isn’t that hard to do. The meat itself is an oversized burger packed with Worcester sauce, ketchup, mustard and a bevy of “secret spices” that neither John nor Janet would divulge. It is loosely packed but thick, spilling over the top of the bun, and each bite seems to dissolve in your mouth. One thing: I saw no ketchup or mustard on the Three Square Bistro tables and I didn’t see anyone ask for any either; trust me, you don’t need to and you’d ruin the
hamburger if you did. Each item, especially their signature Bistro Burger, speaks for itself and doesn’t need any help from French’s or Hunt’s.

Last but not least, for me, was the best of the best, their Braised Short Ribs, clearly the flagship entrée on the menu, and because of the nearly four-hour prep time involved in fashioning these ribs, they are only offered on Friday and Saturday after 5pm (and only until supplies last…about 60 pounds worth per night). For John, this is a sentimental dish, as it is his mother’s recipe, and after you taste them, you’ll soon realize that John must have had a wonderful childhood. They are marinated all night in a special soy sauce-based mixture and braised in the oven for two hours, served with sautéed vegetables and my three favorite words: garlic mashed potatoes. In short, you taste them well before your fork reaches your mouth; the spices and sauce fill your nose as the knife slices easily through the thick meat (still on the bone…but barely). The flavors are full, heavy and deep, obviously Asian inspired with the soy sauce tang, but very American in that satisfying meat-and-potatoes hearty meal, exactly like the kind you’d find at home on a Saturday night.

What was most impressive about the various meals brought to my booth was the attention to presentation. Regardless of my opinion about what hangs on the walls or what color tiles grace the floors, there is nothing there that beats the jaw-dropping astonishment as the entrée is set down before me. Dancing elephants and stunt motorcycle riders couldn’t have commanded my attention as easily as their meals do. It was as if each plate was a mini show all to itself and performing especially for me. The bun to the burger was cocked just so to show off the tomato and basil garnishing and the ribs were fanned out on four quadrants of the plate standing sentry around the mountain of potatoes and vegetables. Even the Melt was split open and the fries were spilling out as if from a cornucopia.

I enjoy a well-cooked meal like anyone else, but the experience I had was a most welcomed change from all the other “name brand” restaurants springing up in the Empire. As evident of the Three Square Bistro, we are beginning to experience a new wave of quality eateries that are synonymous to the quaint boroughs of big cities, and I could be hard pressed to find a better way to satiate my appetite with original dishes at reasonable prices.

The Lees are delightfully confident in their undertaking at the Three Square Bistro, but realistic and grounded: “I could always go back to being a lawyer,” Janet confessed, but the look on her face was as if she just licked a lemon. I don’t think she has anything to worry about; the world has enough lawyers, but not enough Three Square Bistros.

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