Elizabeth Keyser photo

A pork shank with brightly colored veggies

Sarah's Wine Bar
20 West Ln., Ridgefield. (203) 438-8282
www.bernardsridgefield.com

Bernard Bouissou's sumptuous charcuterie and pâté platter gives me a food high. The plate is draped with delicate slices of cured meats — fatty and tender coppa and pancetta, tangy salami, salty prosciutto. Wedges of pâté and head cheese are fanned out — duck and pistachio, rabbit and sage, rabbit and morels. Three petite pots offer creamy rillettes with shreds of duck meat, Bernard's spicy Dijon mustard and sweet and sour cranberry compote. The scent of grilled bread wafts from the plate. It's an orgy of offerings.

We're ensconced in a cozy banquette at the back of Sarah's Wine Bar, but we've been transported to France. We share frisée au lardon with duck egg, a classic French salad for good reason (soft greens lightly dressed in oil, strips of meaty pork belly). We sip a French Syrah from the $25 wine list. Live jazz plays gently in the background.

Sarah's Wine Bar is the upstairs, casual and less expensive counterpart of Bernard's in Ridgefield. Brown paper covers white tablecloths, candles cast a warm glow, conversation is muted, and the atmosphere is clubby. The menu is offered Wednesday through Sunday upstairs, and also at lunch and dinner on the outdoor terrace.

With starters and small plates ranging from $10 to $14, and entrees from $15 to $22, the value of the food here isn't just good — it's excellent. This is classic cooking prepared by Bouissou, a French chef who began at 15 and has worked with the best.

One night a special is potato gnocchi with morels and sage sauce. It evokes a woodland, with whole brown morels and miniature green zucchini. Finely minced garlic and parsley fleck the olive oil–based sauce. Frizzled gray-green sage evaporates in the mouth, leaving an essence of sage.

Duck confit forestiere potatoes is another beautifully composed dish in brown and green. A succulent clove-scented duck leg, slowly cooked in duck fat until meltingly tender, is surrounded by small ovals of browned potatoes and little onions. Sprigs of thyme and rosemary add a woodsy greenness to the plate.

On another night, from the plats du jour ($22), we order braised pork shank. Fresh oregano, rosemary and parsley sprout from a towering shank of soft meat in rich brown sauce. Green beans, sugar snap peas, tiny turnips, brussel sprouts and carrot batons add fresh color to the plate. They are blanched, shocked, then sautéed with butter. Ideal vegetables, brightly colored with an inaudible crunch. The meat is luscious. Another deeply satisfying dish.

We try the pear tart, a warm puff pastry fashioned into a fruit tree branch offering a pear. The chef swirls caramel sauce, scatters nut praline and rests a cup of cinnamon ice cream on the plate.

Only one dish we tried was flawed. When we cut open the fried "beggar's purse" of puff pastry that enclosed the duck egg in the frisée au lardon, the egg white poured out clear, sticky and uncooked. There's a concept problem here. Chef Bouissou can forget the beggar's purse. Just give us a perfectly poached duck egg without the fancy packaging — this messes with cooking the egg just right.

The only other problem we encountered was with the service. Eating that wonderful assortment of charcuterie and pâté, we wanted to know what each of them was. Our friendly waitress had no idea. We also saw her and another waitress trying to identify the cheeses another customer asked about. But it wasn't their fault. They hadn't been trained. This wouldn't happen in France.

We were still enjoying our charcuterie platter when a second waiter arrived with our entrees. Our charcuterie feast was suddenly interrupted as dishes were pushed aside to make room for the new ones, and because the entrees were warm, we wanted to taste them right away, though we would have preferred to finish the charcouterie. Once again, the fault was in lack of training.

While the atmosphere seems a tad "special occasion" (with the fake ivy and flowers on the entrance canopy), you will be welcomed by the staff to enjoy Sarah's Wine Bar in your own way. Charcuterie platter, cheese plate, salad, glass of wine — all I want to do is sit on the terrace and indulge.