La Bretagne In Stamford Offers Classic French Fare & THE Definitive Duck À L’Orange

A dinner reuniting four dear friends was the special occasion prompting a visit to French standout La Bretagne in Stamford.

Forget daytime exterior shots of restaurants for the time being—the autumnal equinox has come and gone and our daylight is decreasing.

Daylight or not, a visit to La Bretagne with its delicious food, old-world service and amusing Gallic touches is reason enough to celebrate in itself.

To the left of the entry is a bar

and lounge,

photographed at the end of the evening to be unobtrusive. Venturing to the right brings you to the entrance

to the handsome main dining room.

There is also an attractive special events room in the rear of the restaurant.

But the interior detail that I really get a kick out of is this cute illustration in the men’s bathroom (the French are famous for this gently naughty kind of humor involving children), which says “Le canard mange les limaces.” In the picture, the sentence is translated “the duck after the worms,” but it more accurately reads “the duck eats the slugs.” Either way, it’s pretty funny.

My Mom, who lived many years in France and was a French instructor at the University of Oregon, was clearly pleased to have a menu full of classic French dishes in her hands.

As were we all! Soon we had baguette slices

in front of us and good butter.

For our appetizers, Mom ordered the escargots with garlic, Pernod and herbs,

Bob the onion soup with Swiss cheese,

Elizabeth the avocado pear filled with fresh crabmeat (which included roasted beet and potato salad),

and I the pâté de campagne

(which included roasted beet, cornichon pickles, chopped onion and these toasts).

Salads come with entrées. We all were in the mood to hail Caesar, but Mom got a plain one,

Elizabeth and I got ours dressed with Gorgonzola ($2 extra),

and Bob got his dressed with Roquefort ($3 extra).

But our entrées were where things really got interesting! Bob had the rack of lamb,

I had the sweetbreads,

and Mom and Elizabeth had La Bretagne’s definitive duck à l’orange for two (a bargain at $58), which was quite the production

and even came with sides.

Desserts weren’t too shabby, either. They were heralded by the arrival of a good old-fashioned dessert cart

that included a number of tantalizing choices.

Mom went for the berries with Grand Marnier and whipped cream (because they matched her ensemble?).

Elizabeth chose the pecan pie,

Bob the chocolate mousse,

and I the lemon mousse cake.

After an incredible meal, we visited with owner Jean Daniel,

who hails from the underside of the left hand peninsula on this pre-GPS map.

La Bretagne, 2010 West Main Street, Stamford, 203-324-9539, labretagnerestaurant.com