French Restaurants
our suggestions
-
Les Halles
411 Park Avenue South, Flatiron, NYIf what you know of Anthony Bourdain is entirely based on No Reservations, you might expect that a restaurant under his watch would be all about ethnic food, random animal parts, and booze (which would actually be amazing). But Les Halles is a straightforward French bistro, and it’s all about the steaks and the fries.
read more… -
Balthazar
80 Spring St., SoHo, NYWe’ll keep this short and sweet. Mad action. That’s what goes on at Balthazar. It’s an absolute zoo. The amount of fur wearing, European tourists that pack themselves into Keith McNally’s boisterous French bistro day in and day out is mind blowing. It really is quite a racket. McNally makes running a successful restaurant in [...]
read more… -
Cafe Gitane
242 Mott St., Nolita, NYCafe Gitane is the epitome of the “it” downtown cafe – a quintessential Nolita eatery and place to See and Be Seen that so many places try (and fail) to replicate.
read more… -
Benoit
60 W. 55th St., Midtown, NYBenoit is an Alain Ducasse restaurant. That means two things – French food and high expectations from anyone who knows the man’s name. We ended up here because a friend of the Infatuation wanted to check it out based on Mr. Ducasse’s resume, and because it’s somewhere in Midtown that we hadn’t already confirmed to [...]
read more… -
Brasserie Ruhlmann
45 Rockefeller Plaza, Midtown, NYWith the hordes of tourists and Al Roker groupies, we’re not big fans of Rockefeller Plaza, and unless you’re still holding on to Olympic dreams and hitting the skating rink every morning, you probably aren’t either. However, there are times when you’re looking for an outdoor drink and some eats before a show at Radio City, and Brasserie Ruhlmann benefits from location and a sweet patio.
read more… -
Bobo
181 W. 10th St., West Village, NYBobo is “Perfect For” Girls Night Out, and has an amazing outdoor area, but the food is underwhelming. Also, wait ’til you find out how they came up with the name. Come on.
read more… -
Paradou
8 Little W. 12th St., Meatpacking District, NYMaking fun of the Meatpacking District is almost too easy. Whatever, we’re going to continue to let it rip until some sort of order is restored. Although our Chronic Brunch ideals don’t neceassarily line up with the Meatpacking’s booze fueled table dancing scene, we’re always down to check places out with an open mind. We [...]
read more… -
Cafe Luxembourg
200 W. 70th St., Upper West Side, NYPicking a dinner spot on the UWS is a daunting task. One would think we’d be in good hands with a Lynn Wagenknecht establishment, Keith McNally’s ex-wife who also steers ship at Infatuation approved Cafe Cluny & Odeon. Not the case. Besides a couple of quality apps, this menu is beat street. it’s standard, run-of-the-mill [...]
read more… -
Le Relais de Venise
590 Lexington Ave., Midtown, NYWe saw Sam Sifton’s Times review of this place a few months ago, and decided to try and figure out what he likes so much about a restaurant known for cheap steak. We had no such luck. To be honest, we’re having a hard time figuring out what makes this any better than a steak [...]
read more… -
Tartinery
209 Mulberry St., Nolita, NYThere’s a pretty good chance that, at some point, you will find yourself walking down Mulberry Street, looking for a dinnertime consolation prize because Parm and Rubirosa are on a two hour wait. When that happens, you’ll likely pass by Tartinery, a shiny looking new restaurant and wine bar just down the block from those [...]
read more…
