By Frederick J. Krantz

Anyone who enters Gigi's will get what diners have always dreamed of. excellent food, superb service and, at the end of the meal, a check that won't send the host through the roof. Small wonder since its opening early last October in Mizner Park, Gigi's has become a mecca for discriminating south-county gourmets.

On a recent Saturday evening, a friend and I went to Boca Raton's Gigi's for dinner. As soon we were seated, a waiter appeared with a plate of grougères - small, soufflé-textured biscuits made from choux pastry, Gruyère and fines heroes. Champagne seemed the only foil for this innovative alternative to the usual basket of rolls; we ordered a glass of Domain Chandon, Blanc de Noirs ($5.95 each)

At Gigi's, fun is the concept: the diner eats what he wants - within a choice of four different dining areas to play in: The Oyster Bar (Edwardian and pubby), the Cafe (for pre- or late-evening grazing), the Cub Room (smoking allowed) or the Brasserie (relaxed, intimate ambiance).

The food is also lightened-up. In line with the current comfort-food trend, Bobby Lane - Gigi's chef and culinary mastermind - has divined a French bistro-type menu offering items such onion soup gratinée ($4.95), croque monsieur ($5.95) and bouillabaisse ($19) all designed to whisk the diner away from the la folie of daily life.

Moreover, Gigi's features a net full of "Les Plateaux de Fruits de Mer" - fresh and steamed seafood items - including fresh oysters, clams and mussels which are "priced by tide" and harvested only from certified, cold-water beds.

Our meal began with two culinary lightning strikes. The pâté de champagne ($6.95), a toothsome mélange of veal and pork flavored with quatre épices (a classic spice mixture), was consorted by a crisp frisée salad anointed with a ground-mustard vinaigrette. Delicious indeed, but the Savage Napoleon ($6.95) provided even more adventure: flaky pastry, layered with herbed goat's cheese and sautéed wild mushrooms, launched on a port-wine demi-glace.

My guest's entrée, a baked triple-tail grouper filet with horseradish breading ($18.95), had flesh so delicate, it virtually melted on the tongue. The accompanying, and somewhat disappointingly flat-tasting, saffron beurre blanc was redeemed by a cloud of mashed potatoes perfumed with spinach, leek and garlic.

My roasted duck à l'orange ($13.95), blessed with moist and tender flesh - and by a dark, lacquered skin that crackled as my knife cut across it, was garnished with a bed of cumin-scented cous-cous pearls scattered with red and green peppers, orange pieces and pine nuts.

An exemplar of Gigi's precise and unobtrusive service, our waiter Michael Ignatowicz selected the two wines we enjoyed with our entrées - Château La Toque, blanc, for the grouper; J. Lohr, Riverstone chardonnay, for the duck. Both, $5.95 a glass.

Gigi's desserts were equally irrésistible. One bite of the zephyr-light apple beignets (fritters), flavored with kirsch and peach schnapps - or the chocolate croissant bread pudding (both $5.95) would have been worth a visit alone.

Gigi's, 346 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, FL 33432 1-561-368-4488

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