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A nice view of the Pantheon as seen from the Jardin du Luxembourg. I think it might be a statue of Dionysus, saying to tourists "Please, drink wine in the park, for we French have no uptight anti-public-consumption-of-alcohol laws such as the Americans have." I was only too happy to take this advice. Several times.

Oh, I think we'll get along just fine.

Food! I'm going here for dinner tonite - what should I eat?

Hmmm...I'd be partial to the salade nicoise or the steak frites -- bistros should do the basics really well -- but I'd go by what the plat du jour sounds like. Looks like a good menu.

Are you going there to review it?

I already did, back when it was only open for lunch. I haven't been there for dinner yet - but I'm looking forward to it!

I almost always have the special when I go to a restaurant, but if I had to go off the menu there, I'd take the pork chops with the mushroom sauce. Yummy!

OOOOOH! And the frog legs appetizer!

Here's what you should do: you should let us decide and then you have to get what we tell you to, in which case, I think you should have the Calf's Liver with the Vinegar sauce.

How do you know I don't like liver? Nyah nyah nyah!

Go ahead! Decide! Make my day!

Ick!

Okay. My vote is that you get whatever the special is. NO MATTER WHAT.

*crosses fingers and prays for some sort of sardine/pickled egg casserole*

Bonjour Madame. Our special today is turd.

I had a turd there once, and it was *fabulous*.

Do they deliver?

To New York?

How do you tell someone they have served you a turd?

Snack or Scat?

When someone writes the Big Book of 9622.net and they need an entry for "Worse: Threads Taking a Turn For", I will be more than happy to direct them right here.

I've never actually eaten French food, since I was under th impression it was snooty gourmet stuff. But I watched Anthony Bourdain visit some region of France on TV a couple weeks ago, and it actually looked right up my alley-all meaty, hearty goodness. I'll have to find a good cheap french place.

Bon soir, mes amis! Madame enjoyed her mussels in a white wine sauce very well, thank you, but her special favorite of the evening was the pots de creme au chocolate.

While it may have resembled turd from a distance, it tasted nothing like it.

Cool, thanks!

I love French food. Although, 'French Fries' originated in Belgium as I am constantly reminded by my Belgique friends when we eat.

There is this place nearby that specializes in Marseille style food and their Escargot de Pyrenees are absolutely sinful. I have actually growled at a fork that got too close to my dish.

Some fun facts I learned about France, courtesy of the CIA Factbook and Wikipedia:

France is 547,030 sq km, it shares borders with 8 countries, and possesses 22 regions. In addition to French and regional dialects, the population speaks Portuguese, Maghreb Arabic, several Berber languages, several languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkish, several spoken variants of Chinese (most notably Wu, Cantonese, Min Nan, and Mandarin), Vietnamese, and Khmer.

Also:
French cuisine is characterized by its extreme diversity.

Delish!

Jean Robert de Cavel, who owns Jean Ro Bistro, also opened a French-Vietnamese fusion restaurant. It's an obvious combination to anyone who knows basic history - but of course, lots of people don't. Anyway, he partnered with a family that operates the best Vietnamese restaurant in town - and though I still prefer their original place (much more casual atmosphere) the fusion food is excellent.

That's why I love Vietnamese food above all other Asian food -- the delicacy of French cuisine with the complexity of Chinese, plus ultra-fresh ingredients. I once had a great Vietnamese pate-and-lemongrass-and-basil sandwich (on a baguette, even!)

I am in total agreement re: Vietnamese food. There needs to be a LOT more of it in NYC. I'm sick and tired of overpriced Korean and the glut of Thai that pollutes Northern Brooklyn and Western Queens.

And also, more *real* Szechuan, dammit.

(PS A handy East Village barhopping snack stop is Nicky's, which serves affordable and fairly authentic bahn mi (though I'm sure the Chowhound crowd would disagree).

Nice! I've gotten good bahn mi in Chinatown, but didn't know they were available in the East Village.

But for non-street VN food, New Pasteur on Baxter is the best in town.

I have never been that interested in Thai food (though Bari just gave Sripraphai a rave review)...I remember when every sngle yuppie just rhapsodized about it continually. The appeal's just lost on me.

I am in a funk since the Pho restaurant around the corner from my work closed down. What to do now? Find faux pho?

so help a rookie out, what's a good cheap french place for a neophyte with my appetites in NYC?

a neophyte with my appetites

What is your pleasure, sir?

[/cenobite]

We interrupt this food thread to bring you the exciting story of fugitives captured at the motel next to Peecox Lounge.

Vidiot! You Were There! *dramatic sountrack music*

Best bet would be taking advantage of Restaurant Week deals. Try Fleur de Sel for a mindblowing meal. (My review) Fleur de Sel also has a $25 lunch tasting menu deal.

I've heard good things about the two Le Gamin restaurants (one on Bedford, one on MacDougal in the West Village) and of course 718 down the block from you is a fine French/fusion kinda place.

And to further derail ...

One of my first writing ventures was ghost-writing letters. I called it "Sincerely Yours," despite the fact that the resulting letters were neither sincere, nor were they yours, except by purchase.

One of my customers was the deputy/hero of the linked article, who hired me to write replies to his "Personals" ad. True story.

Did they eat at the Southern Kitchen, and then voluntarily give themselves up?

Mais non! Le Gamin n'est pas dans la rue McDougal, il est déplacé dans la rue de West Houston, n'est ce pas?

(OK, there's a reason why that was really bad - I damn near made a career out of flunking French.)

Snack or Scat?

Shout out!

Find faux pho?

I'm among faux pho's most outspoken foes.

Fo' sho'.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to open up a noodle shop and call it...

[wait for it]

Pho Shizzle.

Some for me, some for my phomies.

*pours ginger-scented beef broth on ground*

"It's an obvious combination to anyone who knows basic history - but of course, lots of people don't."

Try the Dien Bien Phu Yung. I recommend it highly.

Jessamyn has no idea what we do here.

What do we do here, anyway?

Pho Shizzle?

I have a good story about Pho, but I gotta run to the liquor store for some Knob Creek and take off. Maybe in the morning.

Australia has some grrrrreeeat! SouthWest Asia restaurants. And if y'all think Vietnamese is excellent, prepare your self for some other regional varients.

Oh wow. That asiarecipe.com is like recipe porn, Dagobert.

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