L’Appart Resto

Love this place. Great vibe, great food, excellent service! Can’t wait to go back…

As always L’Appart was spot on. This is our second Valentines dinner with Olivier and company and we loved every minute of it. We have been coming here for several years and it is my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area. The Valentines menu was so very good beginning with wonderful lobster raviolis then on to an incredible roast duck and finished with a decadent chocolate. Make your way to L’Appart you will be pleased.

Great bistro cuisine as authentic as it call me when you can be. Great job Alex and Olivier.

I’ve lived in this area for many years and am ashamed I have not eaten here earlier. The quality of the meal I had last week with my family was outstanding – I do not have French food that often, but this is some of the best I have had, like eating in a good Parisian restaurant. In particular, I recommend the poulet roti, which was beautifully prepared and served with perfect brussel sprouts, and the french onion soup. The prix fixe is an excellent value as well. Overall, I am very surprised how delicious the meal was, and can’t wait to come back.

We eat pretty well here at home and actually don’t dine out all that often. When we do, this very French resto is on our local top-​three list.
Our recent New Year’s Day brunch visit commenced with a superb foie gras on toasted brioche with blackberry jelly. Husband followed with a wonderful tarte fine, and I had a Croque Madame that, in a rare misstep for the kitchen, was cold on the inside. I could have brought it to Olivier’s attention, but frankly by that time I was wondering why I’d ordered a «main» after the foie gras…
The service was personable and the welcome is always warm and embracing — Olivier makes you feel like you belong there. Needless to say, we’ll be back.

I don’t know why I don’t go to this little neighborhood gem more often — making a point to do so from now on. Just had the most amazing onion soup. So so so so so so good — I could have licked the bowl but it was cast iron and hot and there were witnesses. Go see Olivier and staff and have a treat of a meal. I can’t wait to go back.

We had the prix fix Thanksgiving menu which started with the beef cheeks confit. This is a rich, delicious beef in sauce on toast, and it is a wonderful and delicious treat! They should keep that on the menu year round!
(Other times I’ve had their great burger; also the cassoulet is quite good.)
Second course was Turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. This was moist and delicious turkey, and the combination was great. Nice sized portion too.
The chocolate dessert was very satisfying, and the service was good. The heated outdoor area was perfect, very charming and not noisy at all. The total price was reasonable.
This is a solid choice in a neighborhood, family restaurant. I think you will like it!

Well, you’ve done it. You’ve taken a non-​meat eater and lured her into the pleasures of beef. I LOVE the burger here– I have a hard time denying myself of its pleasure on every visit. The menu and wine list have been revamped and brought to the next level offering a great variety of superbly executed dishes. They have so much to offer, the staff is awesome and wonderfully accommodating, and, well– the fries are frickin’ delicious. From an array of egg dishes for lunch to a variety of surf and turf for dinner, you really can’t go wrong at L’Appart. Maybe Olivier should take over San Anselmo?

L’Appart is one of my go-​to restaurants in Marin. The restaurant is run by the owners (Olivier and Alex) and offers fabulous wine selection (Olivier can suggest wonderful pairings– if they have a sancere or Closerie des Lys– try it! They also have good wines by the glass).
The location is charming– with a wonderful patio to enjoy a drink on. The food is even better. The starter «les Panisses» is deliciously unique– awesome chickpea fries served with a French aioli. The bread is served warm and fresh with delicious French butter.
Moving to mains, you can’t go wrong with the beef– hanger steak with green peppercorn sauce or a delicious gastrique depending on the time of year, served with fresh cut «frites». In the fall they have a delicious Rabbit pasta that is not to be missed.
They have an awesome cheese plate for dessert. It if you have a sweet tooth, you can’t go wrong with their Crème brûlée or anything with the salted caramel sauce. Not to be missed.

Under new management and definitely the best French restaurant in the area. I recommend the escargot and fries.

The food was alright, but service was really bad. Similar situation to someone else’s two star experience, we were left waiting without a hostess to help us with a table for a good 5 minutes. We didn’t even know where to go there wasn’t really a podium or obvious place to wait. Very awkward, and I don’t know why the hostess should be away from her station for such a long period of time.
The only smiles we got in the mean time were from a very sweet girl, she seemed to be in training – wish she was our waitress. Finally, our hostess arrives, shows us a table, waitress comes (not immediately) and asks us about drinks, we simply order water and she leaves again. It took her a good 15 minutes after we got our water (she left again) to take our order.
Meanwhile, when my boyfriend went to wash his hands, his napkin was sitting on our table, and a waitress snatched it without even looking at me, went to another table to talk to them, folded it, turned around and threw it back on my table in a different spot, not looking at me this entire time or saying anything, and went back to talk to the other table. So weird and rude in my opinion.
You can imagine how long it took to get our food. It was okay. I expected much more in quantity and quality. Not enough toasts for the tartare, we were stuck eating almost half of the tartare by itself or with the fresh bread.
Our waitress never checked on us. Maybe once, but only to ask about more water. The manager was even walking around and glanced over a few times without talking to us. Finally did, simple «how is everything,» my boyfriend, being polite, says «everything’s great.»
I don’t even know why we decided to get dessert, but it was all extraordinarily slow paced. Took a while to take our plates, give us a dessert menu, and take our order. The wait for the actual dessert was probably the worst. A good 30 minutes for a tiny piece of chocolate cake. Ridiculous. Also, the waitress brought us our coffee and milk, slammed the milk on the table, of course it spilled, and didn’t bother cleaning it up or even apologizing.
TL;DR– Very very slow and unfriendly service.

Fabulous food, delightful atmosphere, fast fantastic service! It was the total experience! Yum!!! And so tres French!

A touch of Frenchie casual class in San Anselmo. Came here for brunch with friends and sat on their lovely shaded front patio. I ordered what I thought would be more of a scramble of eggs, prosciutto, asparagus and truffled toast, but it was quite a posh deconstructed version. Unexpected shmancy. My friends got the cheeseburger and nicoise salad which were a little more down-​to-​earth. ;-)

My wife and I enjoyed a lovely anniversary dinner at L’Appart on their outside terrace. It was our first time trying it out since new ownership, and we were very happy with the menu selection, great service and high quality of the cuisine.
Their dishes are well-​presented, lovely in both taste and presentation, and the portion sizes just right for leaving a little room to try a dessert or apéritif.
Although we didn’t have time to enjoy it, next time we’ll try their 3-​course Prix Fixe dinner, offered for a very reasonable $ 35 per person.
I would highly recommend L’Appart for anyone looking for a casual-​yet-​upscale dining experience with good friends or family in a charming locale.
Thank you, L’Appart! We’ll be back.

We celebrated my birthday here Saturday evening, May 16, and it was a big disappointment. The service was under average (I always expect superior service), and the food was acceptable for two of the orders: the pan seared pork was very good as was the seared hanger steak.
The three members of our party who had the pan seared coho salmon were extremely disappointed in the quality and the quantity. It supposedly comes with fennel (that was hardly edible it was so tough), zucchini, yellow corn and a carrot. The carrot was non existent; there were about 6 – 8 kernels of corn, at most, and two tiny pieces of zucchini. The salmon was not cooked properly and it was served with the skin-​side up, which perhaps is acceptable if the skin is a bit crispy, but it was white and mushy and not appetizing. Some greens on top would have camouflaged it. And I should mention that is was an extremely SMALL piece of salmon, no larger than 2.5“x 5″ which seems just a bit skimpy based on our experiences in other «fine» restaurants.
I understand the meaning of pre-​fixe; however, some exceptions should be made to accommodate a guest. My daughter asked if she could substitute flan on the pre-​fixe menu for the ganache. The server said he would check with the kitchen, and came back with the answer of NO. Note that on the menu both the flan and the ganache are the same price, so what would it really matter? And isn’t it all about serving the customer? She had to order that dessert separately and pay for it. Now that is sad. We ordered the marinated olives and they arrived after our main course was served. One member of the party ordered a beer, and the four of us had been served our wine, and his beer did not appear until we reminded the server. Should I really say any more about the service?
The clincher for the evening was that the server was told there was a birthday in the party. The best the restaurant could do for a birthday is serve the flan with a candle waxed to the side of the dessert plate. It was really pathetic that a restaurant of this caliber can only do that for a special occasion. I would rather have not been served a «birthday dessert» if that was the best that the kitchen can do. Even the basic chain restaurants do better than that. The last thing I must mention is the white order ticket that appeared on the bottom of all of our dinner plates. Apparently this is for the benefit of the kitchen staff, but I have never seen an order ticket served with a meal.
Needless to say we will not be going back to L’Appart, nor will we recommend it to any of our friends. What a disappointing birthday dinner for me.

Unfortunately my experience at L’Appart was a bit of a disappointment, especially when compared to Le Garage and F3.
It all started when we showed up for our reservation. The bartender acknowledged our presence and said someone would help us shortly. We waited over 5 minutes (which is an eternity when you’re just standing there, blocking access to the dining area and bar) before a gentleman appeared and showed us to our table. The bartender didn’t acknowledge us again during this entire 5 minute window.
Moving on…
Once seated, the clearly hurried waitress dropped off menus at our table. The menus were bent, one was soiled, and everything looked a bit tattered. Not a good start. She didn’t show up again for 10 minutes. No water, no drinks, no nothing. Luckily one of the bussers brought us some bread. When she finally showed up again and asked for our drink order, we moved straight on to ordering.
Appetizers:
Pannisse — Nicely done. Airy, savory, and the aoli added a touch of creaminess.
Grilled Asparagus — Also nicely done. Smokey, the right amount of salt, and cooked perfectly.
The bread was fantastic.
Entrée:
I had the halibut dish which was served over a pea purée, along with fiddleheads and purple potatoes. The fish, while not overcooked, was quite bland. It could have benefitted from a bit more salt (and I almost never add salt to dishes) and a bit more sear. The fiddleheads were great, but the potato and black garlic sauce on it was underwhelming. The pea sauce, while fresh, was similarly underwhelming. Finally, the presentation was terrible. It looked like it was assembled in the dark. Very disappointed.
Moving on…
Once dinner was wrapped we decided on splitting some desserts — the chocolate fondue and the coffee ice cream with espresso sauce. The chocolate fondue with raspberries was fantastic — a 5 star dessert. The ice cream was meh. Ice crystals and inconsistent texture made it a complete let down.
Finally, we finished up with an espresso. Quite possibly the worst espresso I’ve ever paid for. Extremely bitter, thin, and each person at the table had their espresso cup filled to different levels (one cup had nearly an inch more espresso in it than the smallest filled cup, which in these small cups is a huge difference). Also, if you’re going to offer espresso, why not give some real sugar cubes or rocks?
In the end, the attention to detail was missing at nearly every stage of our meal. I don’t know if it stemmed from apathy, but there was clearly not much pride being put into the food, service, or presentation.
I’ll stick to Le Garage or F3.

si tu as le Mal du pays aller manger. du monton. et du poisson halibu. …if your home sick this the place lamb and halibut

At the last minute, I asked my husband to go to dinner on Easter. This was the fourth restaurant that we wondered across and it was the first restaurant open.
The only thing I did not enjoy about my dinner was the table behind me that complained. The felt that there are entrees had not been served fast enough. They appeared to be celebrating a birthday. If it was me, I would have been happy for the time with friends, especially since we all had drinks. Did I mention that the table behind complained about the waiter but could not elaborate what he had done wrong? Makes me glad that I am not in the restaurant business, and especially in Marin. I read the reviews, and I can’t help but wonder that if a waiter is not introducing himself and being your new best friend that he’s not considered a good waiter.
The bad taste from the overhead comments were all forgotten with the next course of yummy food, dessert. especially the crème brûlée. In fact, ll my food was delicious and the wines were outstanding. I was impressed with the service considering it was such an unexpectedly busy night.

Great atmosphere in an adorable area. We were seated immediately (for an early-​ish dinner), and started with the frites, brussel sprouts and several salads (all of which were delicious.) I could NOT stop eating the fries with the aioli it comes with. So delicious.
Next up, entrees! My sister had the mushroom fettuccine. I know that sounds like a pretty standard dish, but I wanted to lick that bowl clean. It was amazingly flavorful. I had the cassoulet, which was a yummy, solid dish; not huge, but if you’re also eating your sister’s food, you’ll be fine.
Dessert we had the molten cake and cream puffs. But very tasty.
The staff was very friendly and the food came out quickly.
All in all, a lovely experience.

Best outdoor patio in Marin.
Love the salads on the menu. I’ve been here several times for brunch/​lunch. Nicoise salad is my all time favorite. Server is always very accommodating to have my dressing on the side and bring me a fresh lemon.
Also, ate at L’Appart for New Year’s Eve with a group of friends and we thought is was a great price for the prix fixe menu and the food was excellent!

Perhaps one of the best things about getting out of the city is heading to warmer micro-​climes, specifically with the intention of luxuriously basking in the warmth of a sun-​drenched patio. Who’s with me — doesn’t just about everything taste better alfresco?
So off to San Anselmo we went. In the prime stretch of the charming downtown area, L’appart Resto welcomed us with its sprawling patio and sunny disposition. They were out of the wine I was hoping to try, but second-​choice turned out to be not-​so-​shabby. My dining companion ordered the burger (organic grass-​fed beef, Morbier cheese, tomatoes, butter lettuce, grilled red onions and aioli on ciabatta), and I went for the ‘Complete’ galette (sunny side up Egg, Jambon de Paris, and Emmental cheese). Nice scene, good wine, and the sun gods shining down — everything was right in the world.
Our food came out and everything was delicious — the galette looked smaller than some but it turned out to be quite dense — the perfect portion size. I had a bite of the burger and can also vouch for its greatness… the Le Garage restaurant family always delivers!
The best part of our lunch? The final five minutes which consisted of fighting over the last bite of the hazelnut crème brûlée — as good as promised and then some. Unfortunately, I lost the ‘last bite’ battle but there’s always next time.
A solid spot for casual French fare in Marin County!

Simplement … MERCI !!!

Ce fut un très bon repas. Je vous recommande fortement de manger ici. Sauf si vous aimez la mauvaise nourriture. Ensuite, vous devez aller quelque part. Il est un peu cher. La nourriture est excellente. Au revoir. Merci. Baguette. C’est tous les Français que je connais.