One of my favorite classic Parisian bistros is Chez Georges at 1 Rue du Mail, in part because of the cheek-by-jowl run of tables in the back, the small dogs, the bottomless dessert bowl of fromage blanc (served with a sprinkling of sugar or a coulis of berries), a waitstaff that smokes cigarettes languidly on the sidewalk before opening, and, of course, a menu that has a culinary backbone of bistro classics—including salade frisée au lardons.

That particular salad, a mainstay of French cooking, requires bitter frisée lettuce, a perfectly soft-poached egg and meaty salt pork for the lardons (lardons were named after their intended use: larding meat to add fat and flavor).

In Cooking by Hand—one of the great discursive cookbooks, published in 2003 and still highly recommended—Paul Bertolli refurbishes this classic with balsamic vinegar, a mishmash of bitter greens instead of frisée, toasted walnuts, pancetta instead of lardons, and shards of Parmesan.

Taking his lead, we opted for the pancetta, walnuts and Parmesan. We ultimately switched out the balsamic for sherry vinegar. Only a high-quality balsamic works in this dish, and most home pantries are stocked with low-quality supermarket balsamic. Sherry vinegar, though slightly more elusive, is typically of a better quality. We also reverted to a more classic pairing of vinegar and Dijon mustard, which worked just fine. A teaspoon of ground black pepper rounded out the dish, but this is pretty much Bertolli’s invention. Kudos to the master.