Datebook Diner:

Chef Enosh Kelly inside his restaurant, Bistro Montage. (Credit: John Gaps III/The Des Moines Register)

I love to see a restaurant find its sweet spot - that magical place where hard work, talent and passion meld to create an exemplary product or experience for customers.

This is especially potent when it follows tough times.

Bistro Montage went through some tough times. Focus was lost, food floundered and customers wandered. Forgive and forget. Bistro Montage is better than ever.

Space: Bistro Montage beckons with an effusive urban energy that brings Parisian neighborhoods to mind. Its dining room, cozy and welcoming, radiates warmth. Deep red walls accentuated with artfully arranged black-and-white photographs, a shiny two-tone checkerboard floor and enticing aromas radiating from a tiny open kitchen work together to enclose diners in an almost familial, kick-off-your-shoes kind of comfort.

Service: Truly expert, infused with that elusive balance between continental formality and Midwestern friendliness. Servers here are extremely well-educated about the dishes they serve, capable of answering questions posed by the most discerning diners, and absolutely brilliant at pairing wine and food.

Menu: Honest and forthright, this is classic French fare, stripped of silly 1960s affectations and embellished, instead, with dedication to quality.

French cuisine is dependent upon the careful, time-consuming preparation of foundational ingredients. There is no Bordelaise, for instance, without demi-glace, no demi-glace without stock, and no stock without bones. Figuratively and literally, it all gets down to the bones. That's what makes Enosh Kelley a superlative French chef: he builds from the bottom up.

Dishes built according to this blueprint cannot help but shout with flavor, and Kelley's are no exception. Culled from the archives of classical French cuisine but made modern with his own spot-on sensibilities, almost every menu selection that arrives at the table gives diners the impression they chose the best one.

Starters emphasize the very Frenchness of the venue. Seared scallops, plump and pristine, glow in an exquisite saffron beurre blanc. Silky-rich duck liver pate and rustic country pork terrine vie for textural honors on a charcouterie platter garnished with (can this be Des Moines?) tiny, sour, cornichon pickles.

Entrees amaze. Succulent Pan-Seared Skate Wing is accentuated perfectly with the acidity of a basil caper browned butter sauce. Bouillabaisse, steamy and fragrant, is packed with the freshest sea bounty. The Frenched Veal Chop, with Mom-style whipped potatoes, doesn't even need a knife.

And desserts are not to be missed. Share if you must.

Bottom Line: This is THE place enjoy perfectly prepared French food.

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