For over thirty years, La Petite France has been one of Richmond’s remarkable French restaurants. This past year, it was sold, as Chef Paul and his wife retired. He remains connected “as a consultant.” I recently dined here after some noise in the local press that the new commander of the kitchen’s abilities fell short of the restaurant’s prior glory.

The restaurant’s website no longer “works.” The wine list still lists Chef Paul as… chef. And the menus on a special pre-fixe February 14th dinner was printed on single sheets of paper. These sheets of paper weren’t taken away after ordering. “You can keep the menu as a token to remember the evening.” Hmm. The biggest problem at La Petite France was the service.

In fact, instead of a typical review, consider this a letter to the owner.

Dear Owner,

I dined at your restaurant recently. I was interested to see what might be different, new, and enticing. You provided a pre-fixe menu in “5 courses.” That is what you advertised. But we were really only served four courses: the “intermezzo” of passion fruit sorbet shouldn’t really be considered a full course. Our waiter even downplayed it. “Before the entrée, here’s a little mango sorbet.”

My biggest concern with our dinner was service. It was passion fruit sorbet, not mango. The waiter didn’t know. In fact, I don’t think he knew a lot—he left us sitting in front of dirty plates, and already consulted menus, for 10-minute shifts at a time. I like a long, memorable dinner; but this dinner’s length was all about waiting… with dirty plates. Service was not attentive, informative, or especially accommodating. Yes, the menu was there to take, but it shouldn’t sit on the table, especially so with fake flower petals and fru-fru rose stationery likely picked up from the local Staples.

The food was much better than the service. The opening soup of blended lentils was good, but too thick. It also needed a little salt. Thanks for leaving the shakers on the table. The perfume of truffle oil was nice.

The scallops with caviar was the biggest disappointment. The caviar was a major component of the dish’s name, but it was but a few specks on the plate. For the price of the meal, don’t skimp on the luxury ingredients. The caviar should have been much more plentiful, and it also looked dry. The flavor combination with chive, however, was spot-on.

The veal chop was well cooked, and was a reasonably successful dish, but I didn’t feel it required any specially daring execution. The rosti potato was good, but needed more salt, and could have been bigger. The sauce and crabmeat were nice. The lobster dish, which I sampled, arrived a little cold to the table. The creamy sauce was overwhelming with truffle, perhaps too much so, but that smell and taste is something I can personally take in excess. The amount of lobster was generous, I only wish the caviar dish had been generous too.

I also sampled your apple/foie gras dish. This too was excellent. The trinity of French luxury ingredients were covered on the menu: foie gras, truffle, and butter. Had a fourth, chocolate, and it was all there. I opted instead for the chocolate-covered strawberry dessert. This too, was too simple. It all tasted good, especially the sauces, but I want a dessert I can cut-into. Chocolate covered strawberries says “we have no experience at pastry, so we’re serving this.” Good, but under-whelming, for sure.

Which brings me back to the service. With great service here, this food could have been elevated into a wonderful, noteworthy dining experience. Instead, my wine service suffered. The waiter forgot to serve any wine during the entrée, and instead tried to serve me a dry wine during my dessert course. I was thirsty, too. Water kept coming, but that was about the only thing the service could be counted-on for.

Getting coats—upon leaving, I had to forage around for my coat in your back room. No one was stationed at the restaurant’s entrance to get a coat. This is when I should have been presented with the 1975-published cookbook that smelled of mildew, and given the menu, and my coat. Instead, you ruined the end of the meal by giving us a stinky book.

My previous dinners at La Petite were excellent. Maybe not top-class in the world marketplace, but they were pretty good. Service was always generous, personal, and professional. Here, in February, 2007, I felt like a second-class customer. And despite the good things coming out of the kitchen, small imperfections were amplified with the poor service.

My suggestions for improvement?

• If you take a coat, give it back.
• Promptly visit guests once they’re seated.
• For conveying a sense of luxury, get rid of fake flowers on the table and laser-printed letter-size menus.
• Don’t try and serve wine that isn’t already chilled. I was served warm white wine!!
• Don’t name-drop ingredients (read: caviar) then treat it like a puny garnish.
• Make sure all food comes to the table hot.
• Service should compliment the dining experience, not take away.
• Clear plates swifty after diners are done with a course.
• Inform waiters what the ingredients are.
• Visit other restaurants and take notes… 1 North Belmont does service right. They have surpassed you in both food and service.
• Innovate. You’re a new chef: keep the truffles and butter, but see what the French chefs are doing now in the 21st century.

Thanks for taking the time to read my critique. I hope it finds you well.

Sincerely,

The Messy Chef