A SOUVENIR GONE SOUTH.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

THE LANDMARK restaurant in Newbury Park, Le Rendez-Vous, which opened 28 years ago, could easily be termed an institution there.

When Francois Zanni of Andre's French restaurant in Sepulveda and then the eponymous Francois in Tarzana left the San Fernando Valley to open his French restaurant in a free-standing building in Newbury Park back in 1974, that area was considered rural.

Now it's merely the outer 'burbs.

But Le Rendez-Vous is still, in a way, a '70s French restaurant.

Its extensive dinner menu, served in comfortable, well-kept dining rooms featuring deep black booths and high-backed chairs, lists menu items that many contemporary French chefs deem passe.

Time warpers like froglegs provencal, trout amandine, coq au vin, chateaubriand bouquetiere, grenadine of beef, beef Wellington, steak Diane and duck a l'orange - standard dishes in local French restaurants of yesteryear, abound.

Consequently, I couldn't resist tasting some of them.

It was like deja vu.

The froglegs here come as an appetizer ($11) or entree ($21). In appetizer form they're lightly breaded, served in Bordelaise sauce, and somewhat disappointing, partially because they're difficult to pick up with your fingers unless you don't mind getting the sauce all over your hands. Try separating the meat from the bone with a knife and fork. Not easy.

They don't seem to have the flavor I remember. Could it be due to defrosting?

Escargots ($11) aren't too bad here, though getting the implements (pincers and special fork) to pull the snails from their shells needed a separate request one night.

Trout amandine ($21) is merely passable, the fish cooked a bit too long for my liking. Sweetbreads ($21) should be crisper on the exterior and softer on the inside. These are really too mushy.

And so, I'm sorry to say, is the puff pastry around the filet mignon Wellington ($26).

The meat itself is tender and moist. Filet mignon, the favored beef cut used in the Rendez-Vous kitchen, comes up best in the house's steak Diane ($23) version, although this dish is best remembered as a flambeed tableside specialty, done with flair by waiters, captains or the maitre d' himself. Ah, but that was in those grandiose French or continental restaurants of my younger days.

Perhaps, when Francois Zanni himself is on the premises, he does it that way.

Perhaps not.

Also disappointing is a dish called ``filet mignon of lamb Dijonais'' ($22), which turns up with a few strips of lamb tenderloin in a brown sauce flavored with garlic.

All the entree dishes here are delivered with a few steamed (sometimes tired) vegetables and a handful of cubed, roasted potatoes.

There's no attempt at modern plate arrangement, and if substitute vegetables (such as mushrooms or asparagus) are requested, you might get the waiter who merely laughs and leaves.

In the old-fashioned and fondly remembered way, entrees include a choice of soup or salad. Soup du jour could be a cream of carrot recipe, a tad watery one time but of good flavor with tiny bits of floating carrot rather than the pureed version. Or an interesting, European-style tomato soup.

Soup can also be a typical French onion soup in a crock. Salad here is also tossed the way it used to be, but mostly with today's American-style dressings: ranch, Thousand Island, vinaigrette and one titled Roquefort, a creamy mixture with hardly discernible Roquefort cheese.

In its favor, Le Rendez-Vous has made a strong wine commitment in recent years, bolstering its cellar, promoting its wine bar and holding wine and food events. Corkage is only $5 and extra glasses are enthusiastically provided for wine comparisons.

At the end of the evening you can grandly relive yesterday at Le Rendez-Vous with such flamboyant desserts as cherries jubilee ($16 for two) or crepes suzettes ($20 for two).

After all, it's an institution.

LE RENDEZ-VOUS

Food: One and one half star. Wine: Three stars. Service: Two stars.

Where: 1282 Newbury Road, Newbury Park.

Hours: Open for dinner only from 5 to 10 p.m Monday through Thursday, from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Recommended items: Escargots, tomato soup du jour, steak Diane.

How much: Starters from $5 to $11, entrees from $17 to $36, desserts from $7 to $10. Full bar. Major credit cards.

Wine list: Expanded wine selection features numerous bottlings with good price range. Corkage: $5.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].