Moments of dining ecstasy are few and far between. I live for those first bites when my pupils dilate, I grin even as I chew and add it to my mental roster of great tastes. When lightning strikes repeatedly as it did at Bistro Vendome, I get ready to give out an A.

Peak moment No. 1 at the new Larimer Square French eatery came from an unlikely source: roasted beet salad ($6/$11). Delicate, sweet and soft baby golden beets were matched with fresh tiny red beets that had an almost wine-like flavor. Combined with beet greens and lettuce, chunks of ripe Roquefort cheese, walnuts and a light dressing, the result was a near-perfect taste experience.

The next lip-smacker was the ubiquitous steakhouse side dish, creamed spinach ($5). Imagine pristine baby spinach and toasted hazelnuts nestled in reduced cream gently flavored with Frangelico, the hazelnut liqueur. Mundane greens rise to culinary stardom.

Moment No. 3 was a brilliant take on steak frites ($19), a hunk of top-shelf, juicy, grilled steak in three preparations: pepper-crusted with peppercorn sauce; with Roquefort and a port reduction; or the classique with a simple bearnaise sauce. On the side is a pile of thin, crispy pommes frites, some genuine French fries.

Come to think of it, we're not all that surprised that Bistro Vendome was dishing epiphanies: Eric Roeder is the chef and owner. He trained at the Flagstaff House, survived the Culinary Institute of America, worked at New York's Lespinasse, and shone at Boulder's Q's. We raved over the quirky artisan fare he cooked at the much-loved prix fixe venue, Micole.

Like a hotel restaurant, Bistro Vendome ambitiously serves dinner seven days a week, breakfast and lunch on weekdays and brunch on weekends. It's French comfort food minus the temple of cuisine frou frou.

Opened in April in the former Little Russian Cafe space, the pretty bistro's main dining room is done up in creamy Dijon paint, dark wood, big windows and high ceilings. The problem is that all those hard surfaces make the eatery unpleasantly loud when it's full.

That said, it was one of those noisy nights when three of my best old friends joined me in enjoying the dishes described above.

The evening menu provides many small, more affordable choices: soups including an only-average onion soup ($6); salads like the memorable tuna Nicoise ($7/$12) and petits plats or sides such as the crave-worthy socca ''fries'' ($5), savory chickpea custard sticks with falafel overtones.

Another wonderful starter is the mussels ($8), served three ways. We swooned over the curry and cream preparation. No matter how many mollusks we scarfed down, there were more to de-shell. We soaked up that luscious red curry cream in pieces of the warm baguette that comes to each table in a white paper bag.

Noteworthy appetizers range from a cream-come-true vichyssoise ($6) and a nice (but pricey) foie gras terrine and duck sausage ($14).

The entrees that grabbed our attention during two dinner visits were an orange-sauced duck breast ($18) seared medium rare with four-star baked beans, and Roeder's quintessential pan-roasted chicken ($14) in cured lemons, olives and thyme.

We also found lots to like in the 60-plus bottle wine list including some respectable house blanc and rouge at $6 a glass. We appreciated the fact that a waiter brought tastes of two wines when a guest wondered which to order. The service is above average with a likeable bunch of mature servers who have clearly studied hard. They still need to master the constant table clearing regimen required at a cafe offering small tables.

The problem with experiencing ecstasy is that you expect everything at the eatery to be splendid. It seldom is, and that's the case at Bistro Vendome.

For instance: an herbed, buttery scrambled eggs with truffles in puff pastry ($8). No dish with truffles should be boring; this appetizer is. Likewise, the risotto ($14) with thin green beans, mushrooms and truffles was unsatisfying and pasty. The white chocolate-coated profiteroles were either dry or frozen, and the peach ice cream wasn't peachy.

Lunch includes many of the dinner dishes, a few of the a.m. must-haves and even, saints preserve me, a hamburger ($8). Purists should simply have a cheese plate ($12).

Bistro Vendome's European-style enclosed patio is a perfectly lovely place to eat breakfast, as long as you're not in a hurry. When I visited, the kitchen had a hard time getting the food out quickly.

When it did arrive, I happily crowned the croque-madam ($8) as the best breakfast sandwich in Denver. Thinly sliced ham, bubbly hot cheese and over-easy fried egg were nestled in thick griddled slices of brioche-like bread. Equally yummy is the pain perdu ($7), real good French toast.

I wanted a little taste of cream of rice cereal ($6) but the waitress icily informed me: ''They don't do sides of anything. They just don't.'' They should.

Many folks choose from the selection of Il Fornaio-baked pastries ($8) and the continental breakfast ($9), with baguette, brie, butter, Greek rose jam, juice and smooth, dark French press coffee ($3 small pot, $6 large pot) that is worth a visit all by itself.

I'll happily recommend Bistro Vendome to anyone for its outstanding dishes and thank Roeder for the big moments.

I'm betting he'll soon smooth out the rough spots that keep his new showcase from getting that A.

1420 Larimer St.

5 p.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Thurs; 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Fri.; 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.

303-825-3232

bistrovendome.com

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