This restaurant defies logic. How can it be so good when it goes through four chefs and two owners in three years? The current chef, Vincent Damman, comes to La Bergerie from northeastern France via a year-and-a-half stint at Les Folies in Annapolis. The restaurant is attractive and comfortable, with exposed-brick walls and burgundy and brown fabrics. The waiters have been around much longer than the chefs, and service is generally good.
Chef Damman offers mostly tried-and-true provincial French food, including an excellent $65 tasting menu. Pleasing appetizers on a recent visit were celery root with apples and lobster, a tart of sun-dried tomatoes with goat cheese and eggplant, and escargot with garlic butter and parsley. Main courses were in the same traditional vein–ris de veau with chanterelle mushrooms and a brandy-cream sauce; a confit of duck leg with salardaises potatoes; a quail with truffles; and calf's liver with sautéed onions. La Bergerie continues to feature individual soufflés for dessert–both the Grand Marnier and the chocolate were fine, as was an almond cake. The international wine list is long and fairly priced.
