Bistros

[EHHa]

"best" manhattan bistro is?

i'm starved for a good bistro to be a "go to" place for my dash-of-france. unfortunately, relegated to using cafe de bruxelles as a substitute, although i KNOW its belgian, so don't need the corrections. balthazar should be, but just too far from both work & home & besides, even now, too many tourists & a b&t crowd on the weekends looking for movie stars.

any ideas?????? in paris, there "seemed" to be a very cool neighborhood bistro on every corner. i know this is manhattan, & "we" have everything, but the real honest-to-goodness french bistro seems to have disappeared. maybe replaced by italian, greek, turkish, indian; so guess i'll just have to adjust with the times

 

[EHHa]

UG Question/clarification

how come the (mine) most recent post does NOT appear on the title pgs, like the other topics??????

 

[Monk]

where "was" le diner located?? would like to try le veau d'or before m. treboux "kicks the bucket"

Sorry, I haven't been reading this thread for a while, so I missed this. It was located in Chelsea, way West in the West 20s. Unfortunately, it's been closed for a few years now.

What about the Park Avenue Bistro, since you asked? It's less kitchy than many of the other so-called bistros in New York. They just relocated, but I believe their new venue is open. They used to serve an excellent steak. Their wines by the glass, however, leave something to be desired.

The trend has been towards opening faux brasserie-style restaurants in recent years. So that's where you'll have to get your French fix.

 

[elmo16]

Ever hear the one about the priest, minister and rabbi who went to this bistro?

 

[EHHa]

bistro, cont

Sorry, I haven't been reading this thread for a while, so I missed this. It was located in Chelsea, way West in the West 20s. Unfortunately, it's been closed for a few years now.

What about the Park Avenue Bistro, since you asked? It's less kitchy than many of the other so-called bistros in New York. They just relocated, but I believe their new venue is open. They used to serve an excellent steak. Their wines by the glass, however, leave something to be desired.

The trend has been towards opening faux brasserie-style restaurants in recent years. So that's where you'll have to get your French fix.

thanks for reply! surprised i missed le diner in that i think i've been to most of the bistros, faux or otherwise, in manhattan, over the years. as mentioned earlier, Balthazar remains the only "bistro (actually a brasserie) that gets "IT", whatever that implies. Bar Boulud, should have been, but fails miserably on ALL counts - Daniel should have known better!

have walked by park ave bistro, but it doesn't look very inviting - narrow, strange configuration. a classic bistro should have an inviting look to it, hopefully followed up with classic renditions of coq au vin, etc, etc.... will try to stop by & report back.

 

[elmo16]

db bistro moderne
City Club Hotel
55 W. 44th St. (5th & 6th Aves.)
New York, NY 10036

This place charges between $31 to $50 per meal, I looked up the definition of bistro in Wikipedia, and they said it was a restaurant that served quick, simple foods, much like a diner does. db bistro doesn't seem to fit that definition. Maybe other bistros are cheaper.

 

[EHHa]

bisto?

db bistro moderne
City Club Hotel
55 W. 44th St. (5th & 6th Aves.)
New York, NY 10036

This place charges between $31 to $50 per meal, I looked up the definition of bistro in Wikipedia, and they said it was a restaurant that served quick, simple foods, much like a diner does. db bistro doesn't seem to fit that definition. Maybe other bistros are cheaper.

a bistro is more of a "state of (french) mind". there are many who classify themselves as a "bistro" but ARE simply american restaurants serving continental. db bistro moderne is about as far away from a bistro as you can get

 

[Monk]

I always took the "bistro" in "DB Bistro Moderne" to be a bit ironic. Maybe because I find i ta little hard to take seriously a guy who puts his initials on the name of every restaurant he opens. As for the prices, it's not $31-$50/meal, isn't $31-50 per entrée?!?

 

[justlooking]

I think db Bistro is modelled on a bunch of so-called "baby bistros" that opened in Paris in the 90s that are actually rather similar in their un-bistro-ness. They were all more modest offshoots of famous formal restaurants -- just like db Bistro. And come on: except for the hamburger, the food at db Bistro is DEFINITELY French (although not bistro).

 

[elmo16]

In Manhattan, they opened a bunch of rather expensive diners that were supposed to take-offs of diners that existed in Brooklyn in the 50's. They came complete with old photos of Coney Island, Ebberts Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers, etc. Of course no diner in Brooklyn ever sold a egg-creme for $9.95 as they did, or a hamber platter for $19.95.

There was one in the Times Square area called "The Brooklyn Diner".

 

[elmo16]

In the above post what I meant to say was that these expensive "Brooklyn Diners" were as authentic as these so-called Bistro are, but at least we get the reference. With these Bistros, it seems that no one seems to know what they are supposed to be. I can see someone opening a sea food restaurant, with the same decor as the other bistros, and call it a sea food bistro, a steak house and call it a "Beof Bistro".

 

[elmo16]

They could have reopened the 2 ave. Deli, with a bistro decor, and called it the 2nd. Ave. Deli Bistro. True Deli lovers would have rejected it completely, but a different group of diners would consider it chic and flocked to it.

 

[EHHa]

park ave bistro

thanks for reply! surprised i missed le diner in that i think i've been to most of the bistros, faux or otherwise, in manhattan, over the years. as mentioned earlier, Balthazar remains the only "bistro (actually a brasserie) that gets "IT", whatever that implies. Bar Boulud, should have been, but fails miserably on ALL counts - Daniel should have known better!

have walked by park ave bistro, but it doesn't look very inviting - narrow, strange configuration. a classic bistro should have an inviting look to it, hopefully followed up with classic renditions of coq au vin, etc, etc.... will try to stop by & report back.

did go by, as promised, BUT it was totally empty, at both the tiny bar & the tables, & this was 7pm friday 2/22/08!!! assume it won't be long before becoming another starbucks

 

[nychelsea]

did go by, as promised, BUT it was totally empty, at both the tiny bar & the tables, & this was 7pm friday 2/22/08!!! assume it won't be long before becoming another starbucks

Try it at lunchtime.

Enjoy,

Chels

 

[franca]

Bistro Vendôme
405 E 58th St
Between 1st Ave & Sutton Pl

OK, but nothing special. Small menu, with no surprises. Ridiculously narrow passage in front along the bar. Very plain decor. I wouldn't bother, unless you're already in the neighborhood.