But in truth, people come mainly for the food, which some call the best in Laguna. I wouldn't quibble, either. Take the shrimp in cassoulet with Cognac, chives and Dijon mustard, from the dinner menu; it's as rich and delicious a shrimp appetizer as I've ever tasted.
The buttery, delicate smoked salmon (served on a Yukon gold potato rosti cake) is enhanced by a frothy shallot crème fraîche. One of the weightier starters is the duck liver mousse, a full-flavored pâte served with brioche toast and French 75's trademark sweet garlic jam. The only appetizer I wouldn't give high marks to is the roasted garlic soup with thyme-scented croutons. It's creamy, all right, maybe even too smooth, and cloyingly sweet.
Almost every brunch entrée is first-rate, though. The bacon, leek, Roquefort and Gruyere tart borders on the miraculous; the filling of this flaky puff tastes like the cheese soufflé of your dreams. Interestingly, this menu is one of the few around that still offers a cheese soufflé, in this case a perfectly good Parmesan cheese soufflé that could easily do without the sharp mustard chive butter sauce that comes with it.
I'd pass on the crispy herb roasted chicken breast on farm house potatoes; it's bland and ordinary, like a hotel restaurant banquet dish. Instead, get the roast chicken and wild mushroom crepes glazed with truffled Mornay sauce, which tastes as fattening as it sounds.
There's a hearty warm spinach salad done like a salade frisee that you might get in France, topped with a poached egg, garlic croutons and slices of smoked Muscovy duck breast (standing in for lardons). No problem with the herb-crusted sea bass on mashed potatoes, but the Maine lobster salad with tomato, endive and truffle vinaigrette belongs in cold storage; the lobster has no flavor at all.
If you're going for the whole shebang, the best dessert is an exemplary vanilla bean and raspberry crème brûlée, which has the texture of a fine custard. The warm apple tarte Tatin with cinnamon ice cream (plus praline and caramel sauces) is fairly classic and not at all bad either. Of course, it's the sort of dessert most of the beautiful people in Laguna would never be caught dead eating, on Sunday or any other day of the week.
-- Max Jacobson