Bistro 29 is a Santa Rosa sweet spot

It’s challenging for first-timers to find Bistro 29 in its narrow, black awning topped space on a quiet stretch of Fifth Street just above Mendocino Avenue. It’s hardly hip, either, specializing in Breton cuisine of Brittany, France, with few updates to the menu since the eatery opened in 2008.

Yet for a place that nobody knows about, the café is consistently packed. For locals, it’s a point of pride in downtown Santa Rosa where, let’s admit it, chef-caliber cuisine is sorely lacking. No wonder that each year since 2011, this charming spot has won a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand designation, notable since the award honors an excellent experience and a good value, too.

That means we can enjoy two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less, as Michelin commands. Our meal can, and should, start with crêpes like the galette de blé noir Normande folding thinly sliced potato, creamy Camembert and sweet pear into a lacy, bubble-kissed buckwheat wrapper ($13). We can enjoy brick roasted Mary’s chicken smothered in truffle cream alongside duck fat potatoes and haricots vert ($24), then end with warm TCHO chocolate fondant cake topped in homemade salted caramel ice cream ($8).

Sure, mathematicians will note that the meal adds up to $45, and it’s true that it’s pretty tough to actually meet the Bib Gourmand rule here. Perhaps the inspectors were focusing on the real bargain, the weekly special $29 prix-fixe offered Tuesday through Thursday, with just $11 more for wine pairings from the lengthy list balancing French and California labels.

Really, my credit card was barely dented for a winter feast of spiced oil-dotted butternut squash-apple soup in a shot glass; a crêpe trimmed in Gruyere plus mushrooms and arugula, sautéed with garlic parsley butter; a sumptuous seafood cassoulet stocked with mussels, prawns, calamari and cod, braised with white beans in a bright garlic tomato broth; and dessert of a sweet flour crêpe dressed in lemon, honey, toasted almonds and whipped cream.

Still, any way you eat, Bistro 29 remains one of Wine Country’s best restaurants.

Before going out on his own, chef-owner Brian Anderson made a name for himself at the upscale Applewood Inn restaurant in Guerneville. Years before that, he had worked at Café Lolo, coincidentally in the very space that Bistro 29 occupies now. Today, in this homecoming of sorts, he has created something very personal, so much so that he came out of the kitchen at the end of one dinner to see how we had enjoyed. (Note: He does not know us.)

His care translates to the staff. As we waited 10 minutes past our reservation time one evening, I thought the hostess might stress, so sincerely apologetic she was for the delay. Glasses never stay empty, and servers are quick to recommend pairings to keep those glasses full.

Décor is spare, the tall ceiling, white tile floor and simple rectangular space warmed with rust-red wainscoting and unframed local art-for-sale dotting the walls. White tablecloths are covered with butcher paper that overlaps the table edge, daring wine glasses to be set on the precipice. (Twice I nearly lost my Chateau Fage Bordeaux 2014 before folding the paper down.) There’s a four-seat bar in the corner, and that’s it.

But we’re here for the food, offering expertly crafted signatures from where Anderson met his wife, Françoise, an area called Finistère department 29 in the extreme west of Brittany.

Soupe des Johnnies isn’t artfully presented in its small white tureen, but peel back the molten glop of Gruyère and the rich onion cider broth perfume wafts up, promising rich, savory spoonfuls soaked with buckwheat crêpe dentelles ($9). Tear off a slab of the crusty baguette laid on the butcher paper, sop up every last drop, and understand why this menu signature hasn’t changed a bit since 2008.

A white dish of seared goat cheese crottin is boring to look at, too, but the curl of tangy chevre atop crunchy white endive is lovely to taste against sweet grilled pear, hazelnuts and a drizzle of banyuls vinaigrette ($10). And if I don’t care for the powerfully flavored escargots, which clamors with briny, chewy snails, dark Bordelaise sauce, slippery marrow in the bone, a crown of parsley salad and a wand of grilled bread for dipping ($14), I still recognize it’s a well-executed rendition of a classic.

Sautéed foie gras is another traditional, lavish combination plated with cider poached apple and confit gelée set atop pain d’epice perdu (sweet bread) in a puddle of calvados reduction ($17). Here and there, though, Anderson salutes his Wine Country setting, with a winter-perfect fuyu persimmon and pomegranate salad on a bed of local greens accented with crispy bacon, Point Reyes bleu, a splash of balsamic and a terrific garnish of pumpkin seed brittle ($11).

This is authentic cassoulet, as well, as good as any I’ve had over several trips across France. Rustic, hearty, satisfying yet genteel, the steaming hot casserole swims with slow braised white beans, melting duck confit, bacon chunks and locally made Provencal pork sausage in savory broth ($27). It’s buttery and meaty at the bottom, with crunchy golden breadcrumbs at the top; eat, then pick up the leg bone to nibble off every last bit of bird.

On the other hand, pan seared day boat scallops weren’t anything special, a bit soft and bland. But the seasonal sides made up for it - pickled pear, melted leeks, squash puree, a shower of crispy leeks and blissfully light butternut squash beignets ($26).

The only real disappointment was the osso buco. The pork was perfectly braised, well-flavored with bone, chestnut onion chutney and apple gremolata over a bed of potato apple puree in a pond of meat drippings ($29), but most of the portion was fat, with little edible meat. We commented on it to the chef, and he shrugged, mumbling something about how cuts vary.

A classic meal calls for classic desserts (all $8), and the profiterole topped in a choice of housemade ice creams and chocolate syrup is deliciously, fittingly French, as is a crackly crusted vanilla crème brulee spiked with brown sugar. But those galette de froment sweet crêpes remain the best. The beurre recipe delivers a lacy round fancied with butter and whipped cream ($4), and we dress it as we like - Nutella (add $2) and toasted almonds ($1) for me, please.

What a difference the last eight years has brought to much of the cooking world. Yet as much as cuisines develop, I hope sweet little Bistro 29 stays in its time warp for many more years to come.