'Twas the night before St. Valentine's...

....and all through Hillcrest, hardly a restaurant table unoccupied. We squeezed into a tiny bar table at the new (to us) French place, Hexagone. What a delight the food was! The picture, taken by Gayle, is of my lamb shank cassoulet. Such perfect meat, such a beyond-perfect madeira sauce. The dressing on Gayle's spinach salad was excellent, too -- there must be a very talented saucier (or perhaps saucière) back there.
I can't praise the service, even though our bar-side server became our "new-best-pal" of the night, and one of the dining room waiters was an old friend and veteran of "My Place" in La Jolla. It was us who did the waiting, alas.
"The hexagon" is one of two nicknames for the nation of France, simply because the geographical shape of metropolitan France is a rough hexagon (the other name is Marianne, a sort of patron saint who is these days portrayed with a startling resemblance to Catherine Deneuve).
There are twofer coupons around for Hexagon. Go there. Order the frogs legs. Or not.

*** I was happy to hear that the tables are being filled this weekend for Valentine's Day. Thanks to Expat for sharing this delicious looking photo and story with us! P.S.: Happy B-day to my mom - are you still reading this blog?!***