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La Maison
Variations on a Theme By Susan N. Denaro, Esquire
A
nyone who knows me well knows two truths about me: 1. I hate repetition; and 2. when given the choice, I will always choose to dine on French cuisine over any other. Ironically, when French food is involved, I don’t mind being served similar dishes again and again. In fact, if it’s really good food, I will welcome the comfort of that repetition. Another truth about me is that I eschew surprises. So imagine my delight when a friend blindly took us to La Maison for dinner back in August with the promise that we’d have a meal to surpass all others. I was indeed surprised to find he and this gem of a restaurant in Chester County made good on that promise. La Maison is owned by Janet and Martin Gagné. To be more specific, they ARE La Maison. Located at 1470 Old Ridge Road in Coventryville, this hidden gem of a restaurant encompasses the majority of the main level of their white-washed, 300-year-old house nestled right up against the road. With a French flag proudly displayed outside the house, we instantly felt transported to a memorable drive decades ago along the back roads of the Loire Valley. Janet greeted us at our car and escorted us through the main entrance, which unexpectedly landed us in the bustling kitchen. The aromas emanating from the kitchen were a mouth-watering preview of the delights Martin was diligently creating. La Maison offers a taste of France inside a 300-year-old home that doubles as a Michelin-rated restaurant outside of Pottstown.
THE DISH BEFORE YOU DINE • La Maison is BYOB and because the menu is available in advance, it is easy to pair wines for the meal. • Plan to book several weeks in advance because seating is limited and Janet and Martin only open their home on Friday and Saturday nights. • The fixed menu is $160 per person and they accept cash only. • Before your unique dining experience, read about Martin and Janet’s backgrounds on their website at https://martinskitchen.com.
La Maison 1475 Old Ridge Road Pottstown, PA 19465 martinskitchen.com 24 | Berks Barrister
The cozy restaurant seats approximately 20 people between the two rooms just off the kitchen. These two rooms are set up as dining rooms and feature a set menu. All guests must be seated by about 7:00 p.m. before dinner service begins with a volley of eight courses, all masterfully orchestrated. The menu arrives via email on a Friday morning, allowing one to select wines to complement the dishes. The restaurant is BYOB. Tables are set with an eclectic and colorful array of plates piled one on top of the other. Each course uses the plate on the top until only the dinner plate remains. Dinner is served on Fridays and Saturdays only, which makes perfect sense because every morsel is crafted with unsurpassed precision that one imagines they need the other five days to recover.
Since subscribing to the restaurant’s website, I’ve been receiving a weekly menu and have noted that there is a repetitive method to the succession of servings on the Gagné’s menus. To be clear, it’s a rare form of repetition I actually welcome. Our summer meal there was so exquisite that I told my spouse I wanted to dine there quarterly as anything less would be too long between visits and anything more would make it less special. For that reason, we found ourselves back in le petit auberge at the end of October.
