Vogue burger and fries Photo by Chris Bassett

Its strip-mall location in Surprise is a surprise, indeed, because this French bistro with flavorful fare is worth a drive.
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On the left side of my table at Vogue Bistro, I’ve got a plate of duck confit ($24). It’s pretty, the meaty bird leg bronzed in its own fat and nestled atop a savory stew of fava bean and carrot cassoulet. On the right, there sits a hamburger ($8), the thick, juicy patty perched on a brioche bun and wearing a precariously tall top hat of arugula, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onion chutney and pungent Gorgonzola.
In the middle of the table, there’s charcuterie ($9), fanning oil-glistened salami and cured meats alongside rough chopped pâté, petite sausages, olives and toasted almonds with warm baguette and Dijon mustard. And to the back, there’s meatloaf ($15), steeped in rich sherry sauce, plus a plate of lobster tempura ($7).
It’s a decidedly delicious, eclectic display, and even more unexpected is the place in which I’m eating it all. Vogue Bistro opened last March in Surprise, plunked in a typical strip mall that backs up to a ubiquitous sea of tile-roofed homes. Such obscurity is exactly what attracted co-owners Roman Yasinsky and chef Aurore de Beauduy Yasinky to the ZIP code. The French-born and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef with more than 20 years experience in three- and four-star restaurants across France and the U.S. relocated to Arizona in 2005 and took a job as executive chef at Silverleaf Country Club in Scottsdale’s DC Ranch. Scottsdale, she soon found, meant intense competition for the dining dollar and also necessitated higher prices than she wanted to charge.
So now, after I’ve finished rubbing my eyes over the reasonable prices here – nothing costs more than $24 and most entrées max out at $15 – I put my hands to much better use wielding a fork.