Thierry Rautureau, the so-called “Chef in the Hat,” opened this down-home café as a recession-friendly companion to tony Rover’s. It is newer and cheaper, and there is definitely something lost in that translation.

Gone at Luc is the main strength of Rover’s: the very focused (some might say bordering on sedate), thematically coherent menu. Some dishes at Luc are more flagrantly French than at Rover’s—this is the place to try whole trout amandine, a dish that alone justifies a meal here—while some are bafflingly off-topic or unnecessary. Who wants a chef known for classic French cuisine to serve them a pizza or a mediocre, mayo-drenched burger?

That said, a bad day for Luc is a good day for some restaurants, and each weekday features a reasonably priced specialty dish for two (a whole roast chicken, perhaps, or a pork shoulder roast), which is a good, cheap way to see what all the behatted hype is about.

Luc has an updated look, but it’s not nearly as cute or cool as reigning French cafés Le Pichet and Café Presse. But then, like Rover’s, Luc caters to an older, wealthy Madrona crowd, for whom, perhaps, cute and cool have somewhat different meanings than they do for food-geek thirtysomethings like us.