MARY FURR -- Dining Out

You won’t find a French cafe like Mimi’s in Paris, but you might see

it when Gene Kelly dances across the screen in “An American in Paris.”

The design of the restaurant on Brookhurst Street in Fountain Valley

is theatrical French -- splashes of pink with huge hanging baskets of

geraniums, a wishing well in one dining room, fresh flowers on the tables

and hammered brass wash basins that look like gold in the restrooms.

Amid all this color is some very good food, from 7 a.m. (breakfast)

till the last dish is served at 11 p.m. Breakfast can be a la American

with four strips of smoked bacon and two large eggs or fancy like oeufs

et pain perdu -- that translatesinto French toast with cream cheese and

marmalade with the eggs.

Order bruschetta ($5.95) to nibble before the lunch or dinner entree

-- it’s a generous dish to share with six slices of fire-grilled garlic

toast around a pyramid of chopped Romatomatoes, sweet red onions in olive

oil and vinegar.

Shrimp capellini ($9.95) is a well-balanced dish of thread-thin pasta

topped with at least two dozen rock shrimp mixed with chopped tomato

flavored with garlic and fresh basil in olive oil. It’s satisfying but

light, perfect for lunch or dinner. Entrees are served with soup or salad

-- try the corn chowder (a French word for “pot”) that’s creamy with lots

of corn kernels. The Caesar is a good salad choice with a garlicky aroma,

leaves slicked with dressing and showered with fresh Parmesan cheese.

A dish that proved disappointing was the London broil ($9.95), seven

thick slices of overcooked sirloin that wasn’t tough, just dry -- it

tasted like yesterday’s pot roast. If ordering, be sure to specify less

than “well done.” A saving grace for the dish was some very tasty

rosemary-roasted red skins and fresh bright green al dente broccoli that

even former President George Bush would like.

General Manager Rick Rivera, who has been at Mimi’s for 11 years and

at the Fountain Valley location for two, says the bread pudding ($3.75)

is the cafe’s signature dessert, and he is right. The square of

cinnamon-streaked bread is not too sweet, doused with a thin sauce and

festooned with rosettes of whipped cream -- a home-style dessert done to

perfection here.

Rivera says the very recent additions to the menu, such as the biscuit

and gravy ($3.75) with sausage crumb topping, are proving popular. The

quick lunch ($5 to $6) of pot roast and chicken are a response to diners

who want a more substantial midday meal to carry them through the work

day. Another is the London broil and popcorn shrimp ($10.95) served after

4 p.m. Though Mimi’s Cafe has become such a reliable fixture in Fountain

Valley, there are always new dishes to entice us -- to let us dream of a

day when we’re sitting in a cafe on Rue de la Paix.

MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI

o7 MIMI’S CAFf7 E

WHERE: 18461 Brookhurst Ave., Fountain Valley

HOURS: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

PHONE: (714) 964-2433

FAX: (714) 962-0944

MISC.: Credit Cards accepted.