<b>Au Rendez-Vous</b>

Kiet Jean-Claude Changivy, chef/owner of Au Rendez-Vous, describes his unassuming little Lynwood Park restaurant as "a neighborhood bistro serving working-class French food." And for devotees of hearty classics, such as boeuf bourguignon and cassoulet, it has become a perennial favorite. Just don't go expecting white tablecloths or even cloth napkins. Like many hidden gems, Au Rendez-Vous is all about good food at reasonable prices (and it should be noted that credit cards are not accepted).

MOM-AND-POP PLACE: While Changivy mans the kitchen, his wife, Tuyet Juliette, waits tables, and their school-age daughter, Le, often can be found amusing herself at a table near a television set in back of the cozy dining room. The modest décor marks Au Rendez-Vous as a quirky kind of hole in the wall. But somehow, despite the patio furniture seating and bric–a–brac clutter, the place has a surprisingly romantic appeal. One recent evening, a young couple curled up at a table near the front window, sharing dinner and a bottle of wine as blissfully as if they were at a sidewalk cafe in Paris.

VIETNAMESE FRENCH: Changivy was born in Saigon and opened a couple of notable Vietnamese restaurants (Ben Chau in Atlanta and Dai Nam in Roswell) between 1986 and 1992. He moved to Paris for a time and trained at restaurants there before retuning to Atlanta and settling in at Au Rendez-Vous in 2002. The menu has changed and expanded, and the prices have gone up since then, but it's still centered around elemental French cooking. The substantial entrees still come with soup or salad and a seasonal vegetable. Appetizers include escargots baked in garlic butter, mussels steamed in white wine with garlic and shallots, and asparagus drizzled with mustard vinaigrette. The cassoulet is a rich melange of duck confit, pork and sausage, stewed with white beans in herbed tomato sauce. On the lighter side, filet of sole is prepared in three different ways, including sautéed with leeks and mushrooms and baked in a delicate sour cream sauce. Among other dishes to try: the daily soup (recently it was a wonderfully spicy corn chowder); a "hot pot" of Mediterranean vegetables, with lamb or chicken and couscous; roasted marinated pork with pineapple rum sauce; Alsatian choucroute; and sausage and ham cooked in beer and white wine, served with sauerkraut.