A Note about The Travel Desk: Comments about restaurants and other establishments in this section are not meant to be full-fledged reviews. Most professional restaurant reviewers visit a restaurant a few, if not many, times to report about an average dining experience. Often, I will have only been to someplace in this column only once, or for a special occasion where I am not anonymous. The function of this column is to give some ideas for places that you might want to visit while you're on the road. And frankly, a "review" of a restaurant that is based on just one visit may be just as valuable as one based on a number of visits. After all, it is our first reaction to a restaurant that decides whether we want to return.

After a particularly crazy holiday season, Patrick and I were anxious for a relaxing week of theater and sightseeing in London. A couple of weeks before our departure, I got a phone call from my friend Barbara Fairchild, the guiding light of Bon Appétit magazine:

  Barbara: What are you guys doing February 26?
  Rick: We will just be coming back from London.
  Barbara: Why don't you stay a few extra days and have dinner with me in Paris on Monday night?
  Rick: We'd love to, but we really have to get back.
  Barbara: Let me put it another way. It's my birthday, I've rented out La Régalade for the night, and I've booked you discounted rooms at the Hotel George V. If you don't come, especially since you will already be in Europe, we will talk about you behind your back at the party!

Well, talk about an offer you can't refuse! A few minutes later, we had changed our return flight, booked a round trip on the Chunnel train to get us to Paris and back to London, and confirmed our rooms at the hotel.

La Régalade is one of the "new-wave" bistros, where excellent cooking is served in unpretentious surroundings. The chef, Yves Camdeborde, trained at such bastions of cuisine as the Ritz, the Crillon, and la Tour d' Argent. His small restaurant is in the heart of Montparnasse in an unassuming neighborhood. The location may not be inspiring, but once you are through the door, you'll have a hard time pulling yourself away from the warm, cozy atmosphere.

The room was filled with about thirty-five of Barbara's best buddies, and we came from all over the world. In the chef-as-friend category, Ken Hom, one of the best representatives of Asian cooking, was there, as well as Jeremiah Tower (who has recently moved from California to New York City). Pierre Hermé was present, and luckily, he brought dessert with him to serve as Barbara's birthday cake. Other friends included people from the publishing world (such as travel writer Nan Lyons, author of Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, which is also on the list of all-time great foodie movies), and assorted show-biz types (one of Barbara's sisters is a screenwriters' agent in Los Angeles, and her actor father is a remembered for his long stint as Perry Mason's nemesis).

As we sipped very dry Michel Drappier Champagne, we nibbled on a large selection of homemade pates, terrines, and sausages. With the wonderful crusty bread served alongside, we could have made it a meal. But La Régalade had a feast in store for us, with a choice of two selections for each course. It was impossible to decide. As the room was filled with food lovers, sharing with your neighbor was not a problem, so we all got to taste everything that Camdeborde had prepared.

The meal began with roasted Brittany scallops in the shell with their roe, topped with a parsley-garlic garnish, or warm cream of chestnut and Puy lentil soup, with a duck foie gras custard. The scallops were sweet-briny, and perfectly cooked, with a touch of beurre blanc sauce. But the soup was one of the most luxurious I have ever tasted-- rich and earthy, but silken and refined. While La Régalade may have the trappings of a bistro, this elegant soup is a perfect example of the kind of grande cuisine you can expect here.

The main course was a toss-up between roasted milk-fed Pyrénées lamb, served cassoulet-style with white beans infused with garlic and thyme, or a thick fillet of line-caught sea bass with a caper and anchovy butter. While it wasn't a particularly cold evening, the surroundings seem to call out for cassoulet, and my lamb was excellent, and Patrick's fish couldn't have been better. All the while we drank a crisp Vattan Sancerre 1999 and an well-aged and smooth J.P. Amoreau C™tes de Francs 1990.

Now it was time for a cheese course, but not the traditional array. La Régalade had a very special "Mamia," a very fresh, barely set ewe's milk cheese shaped like an unmolded yogurt and served with Ossau Valley honey. This was really a treat, something we would never get back home. We had another mild, firmer Béarn-style ewe's milk cheese, accented with Espelette pepper (a mild red pepper) jelly. Both were just the things to finish off the dregs of our wine.

When it came time for dessert, I was reminded of the immortal words of Mae West: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!" First, La Régalade prepared a spicy gingerbread, cut into thin slices and stacked with citrus fruits ˆ la Napoleon. Then, the piéce de résistance, a chocolate cake from Pierre Hermé, with a sugar replica of Bon Appétit standing high on top. Add a glass or two of pear eau-de-vie as a nightcap, and you have, as we say in the States, one hell of a birthday party.

La Régalade
49, Ave. Jean Moulin
Paris, 14th district (Metro: Alessia)
(01) 45 45 68 58