RESTAURANTS / Max Jacobson : Classic French Cuisine Is Treated With Rad Reverence

La Vie en Rose is a French restaurant in Brea that takes its name from an enduring love song from the ‘40s, a haunting tune originally sung by sparrowlike chanteuse Edith Piaf. But the restaurant looks more like an ostrich.

The most enduring aspect of the restaurant--a rambling, country manor--is the giant, pseudo-Gothic turret visible from the 57 Freeway. You might call the style of the building “shopping mall Tudor.” There’s an oddball charm to this utter indifference toward classicism. It’s rad, you might say.

But the conservative element need not fear; the architectural style doesn’t carry over to the restaurant’s kitchen. Safely inside the manor walls, classical French cuisine, that most sacred of culinary cows, is treated with reverence by owner Louis Laulhere and chef Marc Leherey. They offer a trim, muscular, precise menu, with none of the building’s ostentation.

The large dining facilities can accommodate 200. Although it’s possible to reserve one of the romantic tables partially obscured by well-placed alcoves, you are far more likely to be seated in the vast main dining area. This is a softly lit room full of linen, crystal and lace. With its porcelain plates, walls covered with framed portraits and its scrubbed, candy-store elegance, the room resembles a Cape Cod spinster’s drawing room. But despite the cozy appearance, the decibel level is high when there’s a crowd.

I reserved a table for four on a recent Saturday night and arrived about 3 minutes late. My party was greeted warmly, and despite a nearly full house, we were seated immediately. Things would have been perfect but for a private party behind a nearby wall. They were making so much noise that I could hardly hear the friend seated directly across from me.

When the captain discovered how unhappy we were with our table, he immediately moved us to a quieter spot. Apparently, even on the busiest nights, the owner makes every attempt not to overbook so that table changes can be accommodated and waiting minimized.

Food at La Vie en Rose is dependable and satisfying. The spinach salad is a good beginning and a good indicator of what the kitchen is capable of producing. Many restaurants tend to use too much sugar, bacon or oil in preparation. Still others heat it until the spinach becomes flavorless. Not here. This salad is tender and full of natural flavor. There is just a hint of sweetness in the dressing.

Salads are a particularly strong point. Caesar, smoked salmon with endive--and even an eccentric combination of endive, watercress, walnuts and apricots with an orange vinaigrette (one of chef Leherey’s few attempts at originality)--work well. And a salad a la Perigourdine is good enough to fight for. It is a simple dish of mixed greens topped with a heady garlic dressing and an enormous portion of sliced, preserved duck. It would make a terrific lunch.

The hors d’oeuvres in many French restaurants are more interesting than the main courses. Not here. The pate is tasty, but no more so than those readily available in many markets. Smoked salmon is on the same level. At lunch one day, I was a bit surprised to find a plate of assorted charcuterie half-filled with ordinary mortadella and Genoa salami. Two sauteed shrimp in a pastry shell with a nice basil beurre blanc ? That’s about as interesting as the appetizers get.

Main dishes, however, are another story. The veal chop was so good that when I asked to taste it, citing professional necessity, one friend looked at me as if I’d just kicked her cat. I could see why she was so taken with the dish; I was especially taken with the inclusion of salsify, which had been roasted with the veal.

The evening’s game plate was another winner. It was a combination of baked quail stuffed with veal mousse and darkly grizzled venison in sauce a la Bourguignonne . The accompanying vegetables--long beans and perfumed baby carrots--were beautifully presented, just slightly undercooked.

Fish dishes don’t seem to fare as well. Poached halibut in a Champagne sauce was unimpressive. My choice of a steamed combination fish plate proved to be the evening’s blandest dish.

Service is flawless and rarely skips a beat. I don’t remember when I’ve had a more perfectly timed dinner--until it came to dessert. I said Leherey didn’t believe in overcooking, but he might have made an exception on the souffle. It could have used a little more time in the oven: Even a superb chocolate sauce loses depth on top of an undercooked pancake.

Dinner at La Vie en Rose is expensive. Hors d’oeuvres are $6.25 to $6.75. Salads are a better bargain at $4.25 to $5.75. Entrees are $16.50 to $34. Lunches are considerably more moderate.

There is also a thick, leather-bound wine list that looks like it came from the set of Masterpiece Theatre.

LA VIE EN ROSE

240 S. State College Blvd., Brea

(714) 529-8333

Open for lunch Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; for dinner nightly. All major cards.