This week's review is of Maison Giraud, Alain Giraud's bakery and bistro in the Pacific Palisades. We urge you to read the review, but offer this handy cheat sheet for those with a shorter attention span.

Food: An homage to classic French luxury, with a bit of light spa cooking thrown in. From the review: “Giraud excels in simple luxuries: an eggshell, hollowed out and refilled with egg custard and savory chantilly and topped with caviar. Fat scallops come with a melting leek fondue for an appetizer so rich it could almost be an entrée.”

Drinks: Wine only, mostly French and Californian. There are some nice bottles of French wine to be found here, but if you want anything better than basic you're looking in the $50 range and up.

Looks: Somewhere between sidewalk cafe, neighborhood bakery and upscale bistro. From the review: “The restaurant sits just at the edge of fine dining, neither too stuffy nor too casual. …Maison Giraud exhibits a kind of unconcerned elegance that suits it, and the neighborhood, well.”

Price: You can easily spend a chunk of change here at dinner, with entrees ranging from $18-$32 and quite a few appetizers over the $10 mark. With wine and dessert, meals here generally ran around $200 for two people.

Takeaway: There's a lot to love here, but also quite a few places where the food falls flat. From the review: “If Maison Giraud reminds us of what made us love restaurants in the first place, it also reminds us of the strides that the best places have made in the meantime. It's confusing: The things about this place that need improvement are simple issues of ingredient sourcing and careful cooking. The hard things — the bread, the fussy egg with caviar, the beautifully cooked piece of fish — they get exactly right.”

Now … don't you want to read the review?

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