BOISE, Idaho (CBS2 News) — Downtown Boise’s iconic 8th Street has a new restaurant serving up meals made from fresh, local ingredients. Terroir is taking over half the restaurant space previously occupied by Little Pearl Oyster Bar, which continues to operate parallel to the new eatery.
“Terroir means a sense of place, so it reflects our food philosophy,” saidRemi Courcenet, co-owner of Terroir. “It’s about sourcing local, seasonal ingredients, so the menu is always changing and rotating depending on what’s available from the local farms around the Treasure Valley and in the northwest.”
Courcenet is originally from France and has lived in Boise for over two decades. He says he hopes Terroir can pay homage to a European dining style.
“In Europe, dinner is a time for family to come around the table and share their day,” said Courcenet. “It should be lively, you know, laughter, lots of food, lots of wine on the table, and just people having a good time but there’s no dress code, nothing like that. It’s about coming together around good food and creating new memories.”
Courcenet says Terroir has a French bistro feel with American ingredients.
“We work with about 15 different purveyors and source vegetables, protein, all the meat, the fish. The veggies mostly come from farmers that are 20 minutes around the valley,” saidCourcenet. “We think about the menu like, it’s what’s available this coming week, you know, ‘Those peppers are coming up so let’s change that dish.’ That’s the approach, instead of having a rigid model where the menu is always the same. It’s so much more interesting to eat and drink, being able to discover new things instead of eating the same thing week after week.”
Terroir started as a food truck parked outsideTelaya Wine Co. in Garden City. While the food truck is still there,Courcenet says they are excited to also have a brick-and-mortar location.
“The hospitality aspect is important to me, bringing people together, offering a certain experience around food,” saidCourcenet. “It’s always exciting to have people try something that brings them back to a place in their life or their childhood. There’s lots of fresh, local ingredients.”
Terroir has been open for about a month and they say they hope you’ll come check them out!
“It’s delicious, you know, good food, good people is the key to a nice restaurant and we want people to understand our local food system and that it’s important to support your local farm and it’s a better product,” saidCourcenet. “We got vegetables like two hours ago that are going to be on your plate. Food tastes better when it doesn’t have to travel across the country or the world.”
Terroir is located at160 N 8th St.