JUST IN TIME FOR BASTILLE DAY.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

It's a culinary parallel of history repeating itself.

With Napoleon (the former tenant) a failure and gone, Vie de France, though hardly revolutionary, has moved into Napoleon's former restaurant and bakery quarters in the heart of Studio City.

Quite coincidentally and oh-so appropriately, this Saturday happens to be Bastille Day.

The licensed owners of this Vie de France, evidently a new link of a large chain of French-style bakery restaurants, have put a great deal of money into this one-time delicatessen space.

An open kitchen serves a completely remodeled dining room divided by attractive archways. A colorful stained glass front door provides an upbeat greeting as a Ventura Boulevard entrance.

But most customers will enter from the huge rear parking lot Vie en France shares with Vons, Sav-On and other stores.

At this rear entrance stands a twin row of soldierlike, dramatic, red-tiled columns that double as waterfalls. Between them is the way inside. On each side are umbrella-topped patio tables.

And to incoming diners, coffee bar and baked-goods customers, the entire rear wall of the building noticeably presents an unusual textured effect utilizing broken china plates embedded into the plaster.

During its initial weeks after a quiet opening, Vie de France offered a shortened version of its projected menu, this a single page of five starters, three salads and five entrees.

Two of its beginning dishes are unhesitatingly recommendable.

Truly outstanding is the escargot presentation. The succulent snails ($7.99) redolent of garlic butter arrive in a brioche basket cleverly stacked with mashed potato and pesto.

Of course, once you dig into this green-hued bit of artistry, it falls down. But who cares? It tastes so good.

And it would taste even better if it came up a little hotter.

The second gem is the house onion soup ($4.25), a deep, dark, wine-rich creation prepared in the traditional French manner, delivered steaming hot in a crock out of the oven, topped with melted Swiss cheese.

The third appetizer tried, a pate and Brie plate ($6.99), also shows plate artistry, but is a rather stingy portion of Brie cheese and sliced country pate served without the usual cornichons.

Vie de France's crab salad ($8.29) comes forth as one more beautifully arranged item.

The kitchen fashions tasty, refreshing, lump crab meat with julienned vegetables into an aesthetically arresting culinary conception.

An alternative salad has asparagus spears wrapped in thinly sliced Italian pancetta (bacon), carefully perched on a mound of baby spinach leaves ($7.99) tossed in a lemon vinaigrette, garnished with a few daubs of feta cheese and a mini dollop of olive tapenade.

Of three entrees tried, the most memorable is a whitefish recipe with the moist, melty fish crusted with shredded filo dough ($14.95). It arrives with pureed potatoes, thin-sliced zucchini and an unnecessary, meager corn ``sauce.'' The latter adds more to the plate's looks than to its taste.

Mesquite-grilled chicken ($13.95) is a respectable rendition of half a bird with roasted baby vegetables and a custardy polenta. And a New York steak ($15.95), though a bit thin, has good juice and flavor and comes up with nicely executed pommes frites (french fries) and a scattering of braised greens.

Smart du jour offerings of quiches, crepes or omelettes served with a house salad allow diners with small appetites to enjoy a mini meal for less than $8. And under-$10 sandwiches or wood-fired pizzas give additional range to the fare here.

There's also a breakfast menu and les enfants are welcome.

Vive la Vie de France.

VIE DE FRANCE

Where: 12131 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

When: Open for breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m., for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Recommended items: French onion soup, escargot brioche basket, crab salad, pancetta-wrapped asparagus and spinach salad, filo-crusted whitefish, mesquite-grilled chicken, chocolate souffle cake.

Children's menu: Five items: Penne pasta with cheese sauce ($4.50), pepperoni pizza ($5.25), fried fish fillets with fries and salad ($4.50), grilled chicken breast with fries and salad ($5.25) and grilled cheese focaccia fingers with fries and salad ($4.50).

How much: Starters and salads from $4.25 to $10.49, sandwiches and pizzas from $7 to $10, pastas and entrees from $9 to $19, desserts from $6.50 to $7. Beer and wine. AE, MC, V.

Wine list: Limited starter list with 13 labels from $21 to $75. Six wines by the glass from $5 to $7.50. (Promised multipage list forthcoming.) Corkage: $10.

Reservations: Taken. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three stars for food; Three stars for service; One and one half star for wine.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Executive chef John Fritch, front, backed by bartender Craig Markley, left rear, and sous chef James Leonard, presents some of Vie de France's best creations, including escargot in a brioche basket, foreground.

(2) Another of Vie de France's creations: beef tenderloin with apple-smoked bacon.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer