Madeleine’s is the place to go on chilly Fridays

Above : Madeleine’s offers a warm refuge from the fall chill, and a decent dinner menu as well.

I’ve said this before: I live in Spokane, which means that when dining out I never - say again, never - have to wait for a table. Not as I would in, say, Seattle. Or Portland. Or L.A. Or New York. Or anywhere, in fact, where the population is large and the appetites are hearty.

So last night, after sitting through a screening of “Chicken With Plums” at AMC, we debated where then to eat. We had no reservations, which didn’t really worry me because our choices were numerous. First we checked out P.F. Chang’s. But when we stepped inside, we noticed fans of the place’s Asian-like food bumping elbows and bums in the packed foyer. I immediately walked out.

What then? I hadn’t been by Madeleine’s , the French-style bistro that sits in the Main St. location that once housed the Italian eatery Cucina Cucina, in a while. Not since they had started serving food at night, in fact. So we stopped by. And we even got a table, worked by what looked to be a single overworked server.

But no matter. My wife ordered the sliders special (three small burgers and “pomme frites”). Our friend Mike ordered Coq au Vin Blanc. And I the salad trio (green beans, orzo, quinoa). And though it took a while for us to get served, our server was obviously going as fast as he could, he was appropriately apologetic and the food, when it came (especially the sliders), was as tasty as could be.

So all in all, Madeleine’s proved to be a clean, well-lighted place to eat on a chilly Friday evening in Spokane. The music was good, too.

Best of all, though, I got a table right away. Ah, the pleasures of living in Spokane.