RESTAURANT REVIEW : The Menu Vanishes at Frantrecote

Hardly anything we buy can vary each time as much as restaurant meals: from day to day, salads can be crisp or tired, meat tender or tough, service efficient or slow. The more ambitious the menu the more difficult it is for a restaurant to maintain the quality, freshness and preparation of its foods at a constant level. And yet consistency of quality, too often overlooked, is a significant concern for restaurant-goers.

This problem has been solved by Jean-Louis Delezenne at his Frantrecote restaurant in Sherman Oaks. He simply simplified his menu--to the degree that he did away with it entirely. Delezenne offers just one appetizer, one salad, one entree (though there is an alternate) and a choice of desserts. Not only does this formula simplify preparation and service, there’s never any question about what to buy or what will sell--and this efficiency can be passed on to the customer.

At dinner, Frantrecote serves a prix fixe meal for a reasonable $25. It begins with a green salad with a tarragon-perfumed, oil-and-vinegar dressing. The main course is steak, a New York cut, trimmed of fat, yet tender and flavorsome (pre-cut like Salisbury steak), and topped with a 25-secret ingredient sauce that appears to consist of parsley, tarragon, rosemary, oil and other complementary ingredients. It works well on the beef (but less well on the grilled chicken breast, which can be had on request instead of steak). The entree comes with good, crisp, non-oily French fries and half a tomato Provencal topped with herbs and grilled.

Considering the simplicity of his menu the chef doesn’t have much to do during mealtimes. It’s not surprising, then, that Delezenne’s chatty greetings are a significant facet of his restaurant. It doesn’t take much encouragement to get him to talk about most anything . . . except, of course, the 25 secret ingredients, five of which, he claims, are unknown to his father, the chef from whom he learned the first 20.

Proud of being a pastry chef, Delezenne does like to talk about dessert. I think his best dessert is tarte tatin , which is part of the prix fixe meal. Its caramelized top and thin pastry bottom formed ideal boundaries for the large, soft pieces of apple that dominated it.

His Paris-Brest, a multilayered affair filled with pastry cream and hazelnut mousse, was well-executed, but too rich for my taste. Among the desserts not included on the prix fixe menu, I tried a pineapple/raspberry gratin. Unfortunately the thin sugar float hadn’t crisped sufficiently and the pineapple chunks seemed suspiciously as if they were from a can.

Dinner also comes with a beverage: mineral water, soda or a glass of wine. Those diners interested in maintaining the reasonableness of the cost of a meal at Frantrecote should note that the wine list is skewed toward expensive bottlings.

Instead of splurging on expensive wine, you might want to indulge in a truly luxurious appetizer: a light and tasty duck liver mousse with truffles or a rich duck foie gras. Each $12 portion is enough for two. And Delezenne’s suggestion of accompanying it with a glass of Gewurtzraminer ($3) is a sound one.

Delezenne’s style of greeting his customers has undoubtedly become somewhat routine with time, but this young restaurateur does take the impersonality out of dining out. And the room is comfortable, with tables spaced well apart from each other. Art Deco-style light fixtures and crisp colors give the room warmth.

Frantrecote, 15466 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 783-3007. Open for lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Beer and wine. Major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $50-$62.