La Poste to deliver authentic French cuisine

La Poste is back.

If you are lucky, you have lived in Sonoma long enough to have experienced the tiny La Poste restaurant, which was in one-third of what is now Williams-Sonoma’s flagship and original store on Broadway. La Poste was, of course, almost next door to the U.S. Post Office.

Rob Larman and François de Tessan created the most French restaurant Sonoma has ever seen, opening in 2002 and lasting a few years. Larman was the chef and de Tessan the host personality.

While Larman has never officially cooked in France, he says he “has done a lot of eating in France.”

He also cooked under many chefs who were French or had cooked in France. One of those chefs was Max Schacher when he was executive chef at La Mirabelle in San Francisco.

Schacher migrated north to Sonoma and opened the Capri restaurant (where Maya is now) and eventually opened Kenwood Restaurant in Kenwood.

Larman had Rob’s Rib Shack on Arnold Drive (now Delicious Dish) focusing on chicken and ribs and then opened La Poste with de Tessan, a native of the French perfume town of Grasse.

Larman now presides over and sells loads of smoked meats, salads and sides at Cochon Volant on Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs, and said he recently realized that “no one is really doing French food in Sonoma Valley.”

Today Larman launches “La Poste à Emporter,” meaning La Poste food to take away. He has also reopened his picnic table patio for outdoor dining Thursday through Sunday.

Available this weekend should be Boeuf Bourguignon with root vegetables purée ($18), Chicken Chasseur (aka Hunter’s Chicken) with mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs, butter and wine or cognac) with root vegetables purée ($17), and braised duck leg with olives and Beluga lentils ($19), all single serving dinners that come with a side dish and garnish and directions for warming.

To learn more or to order, check out cochonvolant.com or call 509-5480.