Santa Clara - Brigitte's - 2006 (MOVED)

CUISINE: Traditional French

RATING (* for Poor and ***** for Excellent)

Food: ****
Service: ****
Ambience: **
Value: **

Brigitte's Website

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GENERAL

Silicon Valley is a dangerous place to have French food. I've tried many of them - they either don't even bother to taste like French at all (they just call themselves "nouveau Parisien") or they're downright terrible. Brigitte's is neither a fake nor bad - it just needs to be cheaper and more provencal: Don't pretend you're in NYC when you're in SC!

FOOD

Everything coming out Brigitte's kitchen are meticulously prepared and delicious. From simple salad (try beets salad) to dessert (oh the molten chocolate cake - yummy!), the chef takes good care of the customers by using the freshest ingredients and extremely traditional cooking techniques, ensuring that the basics are solid and customers like me will say "oh, that's nicely done." The food can be simple and in some cases rather bland for this day and age, but the serious attitude that went into preparing the food can be tasted IF you appreciate it.

SERVICE

Brigitte's is a small restaurant with a small staff. The waiters are probably not professionals, but they do a good job being efficient and attentive (not hard to do given the size). They would stop and talk to customers, and even engage in a discussion about food with the customers. I'm almost certain that one of the waiters is an owner - you can smell these things if you've worked in a restaurant.

AMBIENCE

The place tries to be a Parisien bistro, but it's out of place with it's surroundings especially considering the restaurant is very small. It would do better trying to blend into the suburban scenario. Once inside, you feel that you're in San Francisco, but honestly something is missing, maybe the big city rush or business people. While it's neatly and nicely decorated, there's just something funny about the place that's hard to describe.

VALUE

Even with today's strong Euro, eating at Brigitte's is twice as much eating the same kind of food in the same kind of setting in Paris. The food is great, but it's simple, and the simple entrees in a small restaurant should not cost $30. It's the kind of place I wouldn't mind coming back once a month IF I can afford it, but now I would only go when I really, really crave for traditional French.

BOTTOMLINE

Sure, it's "gourmet and healthy" (see website), but unless you are REALLY desparate for classic French, this place is a bit overpriced for what it offers. For diehard traditional French fans living in the Silicon Valley, this is a place that you don't want to miss. It really doesn't get more classic than this.

LAST WORD

It's tiny, so don't bring kids. Making reservations on the weekend is adviced.