La Bretagne is a Stamford landmark, a refuge for serious gourmets that spans 32 years. Starting with a small restaurant on Summer Street, Jean and Michelle moved the restaurant 23 years ago to their present location on the Post Road, conveniently set between exits five and six.

This is not a trendy restaurant - it's a classic. This is not a place to shake your booty and shout across the table, it's a haven to relax and pleasure your palate with celestial aromas and flavors.

The gracious and courtly owner, Jean Daniel, will inquire of your taste and suggest the perfect three-to-four course menu, coupled with wines from their ample selection served by the glass or bottle.

This is a highly romantic restaurant with soft French touches. Dining is an orchestrated experience, leisurely and synchronized. You will not find spotty performance - the same chef has served this restaurant for 30 years.

You can choose from a menu according to your mood and the season. There are also multiple specials from local green markets, upscale meat and fish purveyors. It's one of the last restaurants in Fairfield county where you can actually dine on frogs' legs or sweetbreads!

To cool your palate there is a selection of chilled hors d'oeuvres. These include smoked trout or salmon, crab-stuffed avocado, and tiny Littleneck clams on the half-shell. The delicately spiced p?t? is always worth sharing with your friends and makes a martini taste better.

When you want a quick warm-up on a chilly night, you will find a fitting soup du jour as well as onion soup. Billi-Bi, a mussel bisque, is supremely velvety and softly creamy. The aromatic snails are served en cassoulet with garlic butter and Pernod, an anise and wormwood flavored liqueur that enhances but does not overpower the snails.

Every day Jean serves two to three fresh fish specials and three to four meat entrees. These are the pick of the market in quality and freshness. On certain days there will be a delicate striped bass served in an herb/citrus sauce. Other days you'll find baked mussels, trout and/or snapper. All dinners are served with crunchy house salads and young vegetables. Other salads are for the picking.

Standard fish dishes include imported Dover sole and poached salmon garnished with red caviar. There is a delightful seafood-stuffed crepe in lobster sauce on the daily menu. And, as mentioned above, there will be super fresh market specials, done to perfection.

Steak lovers will enjoy the au poivre and there is a perfectly pink baby rack of lamb for two. Duck a la Orange is also prepared for two. Meat special range the French countryside, from subtle veal scallops to rich and hearty oxtail stew.

People who are serious about food and dining will discover La Bretagne, and enjoy a fine-tuned dining experience and dishes of a quality that's hard to find anywhere.

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(by Nancy T. Maar, a Stamford Plus and Norwalk Plus magazines food columnist)