The origin of the term "bistro" is the stuff of legend. Is it short for "bystro," the Russian word for quick, which the Cossacks shouted in restaurants when they invaded Paris in 1815? Is it short for "bistrouille," a combination of brandy and coffee? Is it from the Poitou word "bistraud," which came to mean "jolly servant"?

The definition of bistro is similarly inexact. But it typically refers to a neighborhood restaurant in France, often owned by a married couple, serving hearty, inexpensive food in a convivial atmosphere. For a tourist, though, the service can be a little curt, the rest rooms may be on the primitive side (two concrete footprints and a hole in the floor), and, until recently, the preponderance of smokers made sitting outside, even in the winter, preferable.

How is BISTRO LES GRAS (25 West St., Northampton, www.bistrolesgras.com ) like a Parisian bistro? In its menu, certainly, which is primarily traditional French favorites cooked in a classical manner. In its wine list, which has an extensive French selection. In its owners, Beth and Daniel Martinez, a married couple who split the duties, Daniel in the back of the house cooking and Beth in the front of the house, taking care of business.

How is Bistro Les Gras unlike a bistro? The servers are not perfunctory and don't have attitude. The rest room is clean and attractive. The women at the next table are not posing for some nonexistent camera, cigarettes dangling in your face. And there is no language barrier.

I had dinner there with my stepson and his wife last week. The menu changes monthly so what we ate is different from what you will be offered in October, January or April. But it follows a pattern: three hot (chaud) and three cold (froid) appetizers; the Carte Les Gras, a selection of cured sausages and cheeses; and the Plats Principaux, six entrees, and Garnitures, four side dishes.

We started with the rillettes de porc, pork shoulder and belly cooked in pork fat. These were served in small jars, a nod to the crock in which they are usually stored. The meat was tender and spread nicely over the rough country loaf and caraway rye which came with it. We also had the salade de endive et pomme, endive salad with apples and walnuts lightly dressed in a tart bleu cheese vinaigrette, and the sauisson de Basque, a cured sausage that our server said was spicier than the other selections that night. Spicy means something different in French cooking than Thai or Cajun, in this case being a few peppercorns in a very good cured sausage. The sausages, by the way, are made from Berkshire pork by a New York artisan. Many of the cheeses, too, are regional. The Martinezes say they are committed to using local and seasonal ingredients, which is one reason the menu changes so frequently. Our final starter was the Coquilles St. Jacques, three ocean scallops in a champagne-cream sauce. The sauce was properly reduced and the scallops nicely browned.

The entrees divided into what I thought of as three "lighter" and three "heartier" dishes. We opted for the latter, splitting a poulet rôti (roast chicken), boeuf à la mode (braised beef) and a bouillabaisse – all perfectly cooked. The slices of the chicken's white meat were moist and tender, the thigh and leg juicy and the skin crispy. The beef was tender and the accompanying sauce dark and well-reduced. The beef sat on top of a celeriac (celery root) puree, a nice touch: It looked like creamy mashed potatoes, but surprised me with good celery flavor.

If you want to start a fight, claim that one version or another of bouillabaisse is the authentic one. At Bistro Les Gras, the bouillabaisse consisted of a slice of halibut, eight mussels, two clams, two large shrimp and two scallops in a lemony broth. I didn't taste the saffron or orange peel promised by our server, and I missed the rouille, the hot pepper spread traditionally served with the dish, but it was, again, perfectly cooked, and served in a good-sized portion.

Daniel Martinez, who grew up in Minnesota, is a 2004 graduate of New York's Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Krump's). He worked in a number of Manhattan restaurants, including the Waldorf Astoria, where he met Beth, and Daniel Boulud's acclaimed French restaurant, Daniel. After spending some time in Portland, Oregon, the couple decided they were East Coast people. The former Beth Verson is a Northampton native, so last October she and Daniel, who are both in their late 20s, moved here to be close to her family. At the time the couple had no plans for a restaurant.

That changed, of course. This past May they launched Bistro Les Gras in the space on West Street formerly occupied by Cuisine de Soleil. Les Gras, "The Fats," by the way, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the traditional French use of butter; Daniel Martinez says he tries to cook in a more healthy fashion.

The Martinezes are interested in wine and the extensive wine list, which is available online, shows it. It is heavy on French bottles, as you might expect; passing it by a friend who is a Wine Guy, I got back the assessment that it was "pretty comprehensive." It's also designed for sampling: Bistro Les Gras offers "tastes" at $3 and "glasses" at $6.

For dessert, we settled on a chocolate tart with raspberry sauce and an apple galette, a crispy pastry served with crème anglaise. The galette was a standout.

Bistro Las Gras has a small market attached, offering sausages, cured meats and cheeses as well as olive oil and other sundries. The meats and cheese are both local and imported and if you are a sausage fan, you'll want to take a look.

Prices range from $8 to $16 for appetizers and $12 to $22 for entrees. The Carte les Gras offers one item for $4.50 and the whole for $29, accompanied by bread, grainy mustard and cornichons. Desserts are around $7.

Email Don Lesser at dining@gazettenet.com. Read his past No Reservations and Chef's Best columns at the Wine & Dine section of GazetteNET.com; click on the link for Archived Stories by Don Lesser.