La Vie Restaurant (San Gabriel)

In a little nondescript strip mall in San Gabriel is a little gem of a French restaurant. You would never guess that it's there but it's a hidden treasure. The hubby and I found out about it from his sister. She'd never been but her friends had told her about it. I have to say that this is one of those neighborhood places that you hear about but never go to because you don't believe that it can be that good. I'm glad that we threw caution to the wind and gave it a try.
Here are some of the dishes that we've tried: escargots; shrimp and avocado salad; duck dish; filet mignon; rack of lamb; lamb roast; sea bass; rabbit stew; coq au vin; trout meuniere; creme brulee and souffle.
The names are not all correct but I haven't been for a while now so I'm trying to give the best description.
Escargot: cooked in butter, butter and more butter. There's also garlic. The sauce is great for dipping the bread that they serve. This is a must-try dish!
Shrimp and avocado salad: The dressing tasted like it was thousand island. The dish was good but you don't have to order salad since your entree is served with soup, salad and tea or coffee.
Duck: Mon dieu! For those of you who like duck, you will love this dish. The skin comes crispy and the meat is tender. The sauce has a hint of orange, not too much and the entree is served with haricots vert, carrot puree and pommes de terre dauphinois. The potatoes are like scalloped potatoes only richer.
Filet Mignon: The steak is good but not superb like a steakhouse steak. Don't come in expecting Ruth's Chris or Morton's quality.
Rack of Lamb/Lamb Roast: Both lamb dishes are good if you like lamb, but if you don't you may want to try something else. The lamb is very lamb-y (for lack of a better term). The rack is served with the meat sliced off the bones already the pre-requisite French sides (haricots vert, carrot puree, potatoes dauphinois).
Sea Bass: This was a very disappointing dish. It was one of the specials of the night. My hubby is a huge Chilean Sea Bass fan and decided to try it. He commented that it's really hard to mess up sea bass but they managed to do it. We know to not order it in the future.
Rabbit Stew This was also surprisingly good. The rabbit is fall-off-the-bone tender and was a little on the salty side for me, but I think it was just an off night.
Coq au vin: I ordered this the last time we were there. The sauce was delicious and although I have nothing to compare this to I trust my friend who is a French aficionado. She had some of my coq and she said that the taste was very authentic.
Trout Meuniere: This is not on the regular menu and is available as a special only whenever they have it in stock (which is not very often). I don't normally order fish in non-Asian restaurants as they tend to not be very fresh. I was very surprised at how fresh and tasty the dish was. I had a whole trout that was deboned and the brown sauce was very good.
Creme Brulee: Nice and creamy but not too heavy. It has just the right amount of sweetness. This is always a good choice and La Vie does not disappoint.
Souffle: Even if you're not a big souffle fan, you have to order this. Lots of restaurants offer souffle but not all do quite as authentic a job as La Vie. There is only one flavor (Grand Marnier) and you must order it before your dinner is served since they make this from scratch. It is light and airy and just sweet enough. The texture is different from the other souffles...it is not heavy at all. They serve this with milk poured into it and it is FABULOUS!

The place is very non-pretentious and not very fancy. There are lots of repeat customers (the restaurant has been there for 8+ years) and their wine list is limited. But, although the list is limited, they do not gouge you with the price. All their wines are not super marked up and that's very nice since you don't find too many places like that anymore. Give it a shot if you're in the area and want to try something different.