If I could have a fantasy meal with the person of my choosing, I'd have lunch with the grande madame of French cooking in America, Julia Child, at JeanRo. She would love this place, because it's incredibly professional, but has a sense of humor. It's not contrived or fancy. It isn't meant to be. It's classic French home cooking, done exceptionally well by a master.

JeanRo is the new bistro opened by Jean Robert de Cavel in a humble space on Vine Street that formerly housed (if memory serves me) a Schlotsky's Deli. Talk about good karma! I should have such luck with my reincarnation.

The decorating is low-key and friendly, done in bright white and deep red, with charming French posters and amusing hand-scripted quotes on the mirrored walls. The mirrors visually enlarge the space and allow the diners who are facing the wall to sneak a peek at the crowd in this hot new spot.

It was easier to pick names for my children than it was to decide what to eat at JeanRo! Everything on the menu looked so interesting. Would the appetizer of Warm Indiana Goat Cheese with Yukon Gold Potatoes be so filling that I would have to skip dessert? Unthinkable. Is there any strategy that would allow soup, salad, entrée and dessert? Only if I were going home for a nap afterwards, and since it was a workday that wasn't bloody likely.

So my dining partner and I chose an appetizer to share, and it was amazing: a petite quiche ($5.50) of rabbit, bleu cheese and mushrooms, surrounded by a silky sauce, a rabbit stock reduction with Madeira wine. For those of you who haven't dined on Pat the Bunny, I have to honestly report that the meat is absolutely rich and fabulous, tasting like very rich smooth dark poultry -- not "gamey," but distinctive. Each bite of quiche was an amazing burst of flavor.

My dining partner's coq au vin ($12.75) was deep burgundy on the outside from the wine it had cooked in. I nabbed a bite easily with my fork, in spite of the fact that coq au vin is traditionally made from a tough old bird. Red wine and slow cooking make this classic dish tender. It was accompanied by roast potatoes, but I would have been more than content soaking up the sauce with buttered bread.

Cassoulet toulousain ($14) is another farmhouse favorite. A casserole of white beans, bread crumbs, at least two kinds of sausage, bacon, lamb and (I swear) hot dog. Do I sense a note of irony? Perhaps, but if we can't laugh, we can't enjoy life. Full of garlicky goodness, this dish has a comfort food factor of nine out of 10. The extra point would have been gained by cooking the beans a little longer; they were a bit too al dente for my taste. But working my way through this simple dish, it revealed a complexity that was delightful -- discovering the bits of tender lamb, letting the blanched bacon melt in my mouth, appreciating the bite of the garlic sausage. This is the art of cooking simple food well; it's not as easy as it looks.

The classic crème caramel ($4.50) was perfect, note for note. The more interesting dessert was the Floating Island ($4.25) -- four soft meringue puffs floating in a creamy vanilla sea. I closed my eyes and floated away.

This is great French food without the frou-frou. It's classic, exceptionally delicious and professionally executed, but there aren't the extra garnishes that get pictures in the food porn magazines. There's no halo of caramel strands, nothing precious -- just honest excellence.

According to JeanRo's general manager, Justin Dean, they plan to open for dinner by mid-April. Dinner will be served 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5:30-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Maybe I can get Julia Child to pencil me in for a meal at JeanRo, I'll bet she'd make the trip. ©

JeanRo: A Cincinnati French Bistro
Go: 413 Vine St., Downtown

Call: 513-621-1465

Hours: Lunch: 11:30 a.m.- 2 p.m. Monday-Friday; the bar is open until 4 p.m.

Prices: Moderate

Payment: Tout

Red Meat Alternatives: No veggie entrée, but lots of salads, goat cheese with Yukon gold potato appetizer, butternut squash soup.

Accessible: Oui

Grade: A