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Update: La Maison now serves French and Mexican food. We suspect it has been sold. When we heard there was a highly-regarded French restaurant in Castro Valley, we had to try it. We love French food and could not be more pleased to have a good French restaurant close by. So one Friday evening in October 2000 we made reservations and visited La Maison. Same-day reservations were easy to get, but we were lucky to have made them. The place was pretty full (we're obviously not the only ones to be happy to have such a restaurant in the area). The restaurant, located on a busy street, seems to be located in the front room of a large house. It's a very nice room, with soft light and clean walls. It would all be very pleasant, but for an overly made-up receptionist (the owner) whom presides over the room with a sour face. This would not be an issue, but our table was located right in front of the counter so that she was in my viewing range every time I looked over my husband's shoulder. The food and service were pretty good, and I think comparable to the more fashionable eateries in the East Bay. For starters, I had the Assorted Pates served with Cornichons. The pates actually resembled salami in consistency, instead of being smooth and creamy, they were chunky and coarse. However, they tasted pretty good, even if you could not easily spread them on the bread. The pate portion was generous enough to share among several people. Most appetizers were very nicely priced between $5.50 and $8. Many of the entrees (all priced in the teens) sounded very good, and I considered both the braised rabbit and the rack of lamb before finally deciding on the Venison Sausage made with a Blackcurrant and Blueberry filling, served over a bed of Fettuccine. I'm not what you would call a sausage fanatic, but this dish sounded intriguing enough for me. As I remember, it was pretty good. Mike had the New York Steak with a Red Wine Sauce, and he also enjoyed it. I had a glass of wine with dinner, which I liked, but can't recall what it was. I don't recall what I had for dessert, so while it might have been good it wasn't particularly memorable. In all, we enjoyed our evening and liked the food. We thought it was very well priced, and we'll probably visit again. La Maison 3774 Castro Valley Blvd Castro Valley, CA 510-733-2780 http://www.diningtips.com/lamaison/