The bistro format will never go out of style—who could get sick of steaming bowls of mussels and steak frites?—and there's another in the city's fleet of classic French restaurants at Boucherie, open now in the West Village. Everything's in its right place: the tiled floors and walls, the expansive mirror behind the bar, the slightly wobbly wooden chairs circled around cafe tables. The menu doesn't reveal any surprises, but why should it? That's not why you're at a bistro to begin with.
Executive Chef Jerome Dihul, who can be seen running between the restaurant's two open cooking spaces, was Chef de Cuisine at Keith McNally’s Pastis prior to its closing. If there's one restaurateur synonymous with French cuisine in NYC, it's McNally.
Escargots ($19) drowned in butter, as they should be, make for a delectable if calorically-heavy starter (ask for some more baguette to soak up all the garlic, lemon and parsley sauce). At a recent press preview, the Steak Frites au Poivre ($36) was more than enough to share, with a generous heap of extra crispy fries and a sliced 14-ounce New York strip with a creamy peppercorn sauce.
99 7th Avenue South, 212-873-1616; boucherie.nyc
Boucherie Dinner Menu by Nell Casey on Scribd
