Tuesday, October 07, 2008
A good French restaurant, especially in Queens, is hard to find. Okay, it's not that hard to find. Queen's best "Bistro francais," in Long Island City, has a tiny old red car in front of it. If you're in the neighborhood, you can't miss it. Herein lies the problem: most people wouldn't expect a restaurant with perfect steak frites to be on this side of the East River. But, dear reader, I would not be writing this if it weren't true; I would not have been going every Thursday night for the past year (and often on Sunday morning) if this weren't true. Because, even in comparison to the West Village's (over)abundance of French bistros, nothing comes as eerily close to perfection as Tournesol. The ratatouille, the lamb chop, every special I've ever had, the bearnaise sauce, the chocolate nougat dessert, the lightly chilled red wine...it's just so good. And the prices are significantly lower than those on the island of Manhattan. And the maitre d' gives me free Rose champagne. And everyone has real French accents. And I've overheard, on more than one occasion, real people from Manhattan saying it's their favorite French restaurant too. So go. And look for the red car.
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Photo:
Tommy Rudnick
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