Petit Trois Le Valley is the more spacious Sherman Oaks spinoff of a Hollywood hit from chef Ludo Lefebvre and his wife/marketing mastermind Krissy. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo remain their accomplished chef-partners. The bistro with pastel green banquettes and stylish snail logo also recruited a pastry chef with serious skills.

Pastry chef Rachel De Jong previously worked at the prestigious Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. She’s in charge of all Petit Trois Le Valley pastries, bread, and desserts. I was particularly impressed with her Chocolate Croissant ($7). T

An ungodly amount of butter held together two molten Valrhona dark chocolate batons and shattering laminated dough. The fact that all that butter didn’t bleed onto the oven floor during the baking process is a true feat of baking physics. Ludo said Isigny butter from Normandy, France, is the key to croissant success. It’s hard to argue with these results.