le pommier

For the wife's birthday, we thought long and hard about where to go for dinner--someplace we knew was good? someplace that MIGHT BE good? someplace that offered Kir Royales (her new obsession)?--and settled on Le Pommier, a French place on Carson that had always looked intriguing but that we'd never tried. We arrived there for our 5:30 reservations (the life of parents of young children is so exciting and glamorous) but weren't actually the only diners there--it was about half full. We got seated between two tables of priests, who apparently didn't really know each other; I can't swear there's a priest corner in that restaurant, but I can't swear there's not, either. We both ordered the steak-frites, the most basic of French bistro dishes and the one by which you can judge a place that calls itself a bistro. I used to go to a place in New York that actually called itself "Steak Frites" but was never all that impressed by their version of the dish. Le Pommier, though, really did it right, and when you asked for it rare (as my wife did) they'll give it to you "bleu," the way the French like it. The frites were damn good, too. I was actually impressed by everything: the service, the unpretentiousness of the place, the rooms themselves, and the food. Highly recommended.