Splurge with lunch at Ithaca's Dijon Bistro

This week, 14850 Dining is splurging on a nice lunch on the north side of Ithaca at Dijon Bistro. This delectable French eatery just off Route 13 on Third Street offers a simplified lunch menu of sandwiches and a few entrees at lunchtime, and we gave it a try this week. The economy has people nervous about spending money unnecessarily, and as people's dining budgets shrink, we suspect more and more folks will try the region's nicer eateries at lunchtime instead of in the evening, since fancy lunches tend to be more affordable than fancy dinners.

Appetizer options include Dijon's wonderful onion soup with melted Gruyère cheese, perfect on a chilly day, but we split the steamed mussels as an appetizer. At lunchtime, the mussels are available as an entrée, but the batch of tasty seafood, served in a garlicky white wine sauce, also worked well shared around the table. Try not to waste the delicious sauce that remains when the mussels are gone; dip some fresh baguette or hot fries in it before you let your server take away the cast iron skillet.

At the core of Dijon's lunch menu is a list of Tartines, or open-faced sandwiches, each served with salad greens and piping hot frites -- the crisp, seasoned French fries you'll find at any bistro in Paris. At $12 each, Dijon's tartines will never be on 14850 Dining's list of cheap lunch options, but they make for a complete and filling meal that's not that much more expensive than a good sandwich and fries or salad most other places in town.

Try the duck confit tartine, tender boneless duck on an open-faced sandwich with tomato and bacon, or the salmon rilette, a generous sandwich of salmon salad with capers. There's a sandwich for just about any palate. I enjoyed an omelet on this visit, fluffy and crisp and well-stuffed with leeks and tender mushrooms and gruyère and just about anything else you could ask for. An omelet may seem like an odd choice for lunch at a French restaurant, but one of the best omelets I ever had was at lunch on the Palace grounds at Versailles. (This one compared well.)

Vegetarian options include not only the omelet but also a portobello mushroom tartine with melted Gruyère, or a vegetable risotto on the entrée list. If you'd like something specific, just ask, and if they can do it, they'll probably be willing to try.

If you saved enough room, don't skip dessert. We split Dijon's infamous chocolate mousse and the profiteroles, ice-cream-filled puffs of pastry with warm chocolate sauce poured over the top.

Plan on spending 12-20 dollars on your lunch, more if you really go all out with appetizer, entrée, dessert, and wine. Lunch is available weekdays from 12-2, and Dijon is also open nightly for dinner from 5-10pm, with a three-course prix fixe pre-theatre dinner available if you arrive before 6. Dijon Bistro is at 311 Third Street, between Route 13 and Hancock Street -- and right between the bowling alley and the DMV. Find them at dijonbistro.com or call 256-0503 and tell them you heard about them here.