Clementine - Classic French, Tres Bon!

Clementine pleased the senses and palettes of this month's Dine About crowd, living up to its billing as a delicious neighborhood French bistro.

A good showing from the usual suspects and a few folks who seem to be turning into regulars! Pat drove in just in time from Berkeley; Son, a 2nd-timer charmed the crowd with stories of Nebraska; Phu and Winnie - ensuring we were well taken care of (Phu even tried speaking French!), The Browns from Phoenix timed their trip to hit DASF; and me (Mollie) sans Jon (Jon back from Costa Rica, but sick after working all night).

Ratings:
Food = 90
Service = 94
Atmosphere = 88
Jon-on-the-Jon = stand-in Son has been fired from any future Jon-on-the-Jon ratings, instead being delegated to rating the female wait staff (with the Garcon staff still top-of-mind.)

Service is the reason to return to Clementine. Every detail was attended to and the pacing was perfect.

Food received a healthy 90 rating with all dishes executed extremely well. The blue cheese tart and shrimp citrus appetizers were favorites and the duck with mushroom sauce and blue nose sea bass with risotto were wonderful. And, the French know dessert - highlights included the special of the day - fresh strawberries over moist tart with "(H)azelnut D'ough", and French toast with caramelized ice cream.

Atmosphere. Charming and intimate setting, plenty of room, and soft music allowed us to converse easily. Very comforting, but avoid if possible the toilettes which were obviously decorated by a man (see Jon-on-the-Jon notes above.)

Overall, a solid neighborhood restaurant I could see returning to. Good value; and better value if you can make the prix-fix menu from 5-7pm M-F.

Looking forward to seeing the other posts!!