THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Bistro des Copains

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Bistro des Copains Restaurant Review:

Usually one can only wish a gem of a bistro might exist in a tiny backwoods town. In Occidental, the West County hamlet hidden between ocean and Russian River wineries, fantasies happen. Bistro des Copains delivers Provençal ambience and flavors yanked from the owner’s family farm in southern France. Saffron walls, brick-red table linens, and a welcome dish of spicy black olive tapenade set the stage. The kitchen deftly turns out bistro favorites. When fog descends over the ridge-top, choose a crockery of French onion soup, or pastis-spiked mussels with a pile of thin frites. Other fine beginnings: rabbit terrine, or butter lettuce leaves dressed in simple mustard vinaigrette and reconstructed so it still looks freshly plucked from the farm. Move to classic half-chicken roasted with baby parsnips, carrots, and herb butter-laced pan juices. Even with richer comfort dishes, garden freshness breaks through. And do enjoy the delightful candied orange-chocolate cake. Regulars dine bar-side facing two wood ovens and sip BYO wines sans corkage Thursdays for Sonoma County labels.