"Going to Chez Bruce is a little like going back in time via Balham. Suited staff serve you warm bread. Couples hold hands across the crisp white tablecloths. There are baked alaskas served all over the humming dining room. You get the feeling that everyone could be discussing what to make of that hot young thing Julia Roberts. The menu is based on the foundation of classic French technique—note the lobster raviolo the size of a tennis ball on the menu. But also has some sometimes good, sometimes odd alternative flourishes: miso glaze, gremolata, and the like." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna