His passion and expertise in French cooking saved his career and home, and now, the savory suppers he serves at La Maison in Coventryville are saved up by diners months in advance.

La Maison is the genuine homestyle kitchen of Martin and Janet Gagné, serving five- and seven-course meals three nights a week, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer review by Craig LaBan.

But the chef’s mood, not a menu, dictates what you’ll be served.

“It’s more like visiting the home of an eccentric uncle with a fondness for rustic French braising who also likes to blowtorch meringues,” LaBan wrote.

And the setting of La Maison is just as cozy.

“It feels like an idyllic country village getaway, this charming and unusual 24-seat restaurant in northern Chester County, perched on the sloping edge of Old Ridge Road not far from the fishermen casting for trout at dusk in the meandering French Creek and the handful of farms on rolling hills just down the road that, once the season warms, will be supplying Gagné with heirloom vegetables, artisan dairy, and pasture-fed meats.”

Read more about La Maison and Gagné’s 37-restaurant, 50-year career in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.