French bistro classics on the Upper East Side since 1972
Onion soup, Dover sole, and a room running on the same French classics for over fifty years.
🥖 The Upper East Side's French old guard
Jean Denoyer opened this dining room in 1972, and the Upper East Side has treated it as a neighborhood canteen for decades. The menu reads like a French primer. Onion soup under a lid of melted cheese, Dover sole, steak with a heap of crisp frites, and a cheese soufflé that arrives tall and golden. Lunch runs from 12:00 to 3:00 PM, then the room resets for dinner from 5:30 PM. Tables sit close together, mirrors line the walls, and the crowd skews regulars who greet the waiters by name. Order the frites early, the kitchen sends them out hot and well salted, the way a real bistro should, and let the soufflé take its time. A long lunch here tends to slide into an afternoon glass of wine, with nobody nudging you toward the door.
