Cuisine:

• French
• Bistro

Rendez Vous Bistro Description:
Ah, the prospect of a Parisian-style café smack dab in centre-ville Santa Rosa. The often-bustling wide patio facing the downtown square invites leisurely lunches in summertime or romantic trysts under heat lamps and darkness. Inside, a grand bar snakes through the whole front dining room, otherwise outfitted with tables so snug the dishes barely fit. More touches à la française: a stone mosaic floor, art nouveau murals, raw bar and late-night crêpe bar, and bistro menu items you'd expect from bouillabaisse to crème brûlée. It's a place that spawns wishful dreams of Paris---but mainly because the cuisine does not tend to stack up. Steak frites, while nicely rare inside, come over-charred to the point of bitterness, with gummy sauce and standard fries, not frites. Coq au vin tastes stewed awhile but basic and unmemorable save for the buttery, bright haricots verts that accompany it. The French onion soup crock shows more promise, though its Gruyère crown comes disappointingly un-browned. Still, it's hard not to be swayed by a warm Nutella dessert crêpe folded like a back-pocket and sprinkled with powdered sugar, and by reasonably priced French and California wines by the glass available in three-ounce pours.


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