Petite Fontaine Salad & Co

Enjoyed our meal! The onion soup was more cheese than soup but I’m not complaining! The scallops were delightful. Was bit overwhelmed by the closeness of our neighboring tables and all the things on the walls. I also think we annoyed our waiter when we didn’t order any wine but we don’t drink! So oh well.

Le Refuge has street parking, but we found a spot around the corner. We started with a bottle of Malbec, Conquistador de Argentina. For appetizers we ordered the Country Pate, and Escargot. They were out of Escargot, but our very knowledgeable server suggested the crayfish. She was right, they were delicious. Pate was also very tasty. They also brought French bread, and. Continued to bring it all through the meal. It was that good. For dinner, my wife had the quails, with a vegetable medley and scalloped potatoes. She loved it all. I had the Coq au Vin, with the same sides. Very good. Sauce was incredible, though I'm sure it wasn't devoid of sodium. Portions for both were fine. For desert, we split a Creme Brule. It was big so splitting it was easy. It is a bit pricey, but value for what we got was fine.

Many years since I last dined at Le Refuge and I was delighted finding the same masterful quality of classic French country fare dropping in for lunch yesterday. I did not really drop in, I called first. Many other things have changed in over 3 decades of visiting LR but not the food nor the visual ambience. When I first dined at LR in the 1980’s you could barely see from the front door to the back of the dining room through the haze of cigarette smoke and it is a short distance. The restaurant seats 42 people at full capacity having a handful of 4 top tables and the rest are tables for 2. All tables have 2 table clothes, red wine color cloth with a white one angled on top of it. The interior air cleared with the smoking ban in restaurants in 2009 and now customers are required to wear a mask to come through the front door. There was only 1 couple dining enjoying lunch when I was seated at 1:00 PM. They finished and left by the time my entree arrived and there were 3 people who came in picking up take out orders during my visit so it is not reasonable to comment on service being the only diner having the exclusive attention of the server. I started out having a Kir Royal, moving to a glass of White Bordeaux with my entree and Remy accompanying a shot of espresso with dessert. My food order sequence was baked onion soup with Swiss cheese followed by trout with mushrooms and almonds in lemon butter sauce entree and puff pastry with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and freshly made whipped cream for dessert. All dishes were made with fresh quality ingredients masterfully prepared. Onion soup and trout hit my table top piping hot which is a distinction of fine dining restaurants. Artfully plated elevated flavors are served here.

Affordable for everyday dining and the perfect place to celebrate the most important special occasions. It's obvious that great care has been taken to make sure every detail is just right, from the decor to the lighting, music, and most importantly, the food. I went early and got a table, but it's probably a good idea to make a reservation.