Critics’ choice: New takes on French cuisine

Dine at Zimmi’s, Petite Vie, or Le Coq

(Image credit: Green Art Photography / Getty Images)

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Zimmi’s - New York City
Petite Vie - Western Springs, Illinois
Le Coq - La Jolla, California

Zimmi’s - New York City

While Manhattan always has “plenty of Paris,” said Helen Rosner in The New Yorker, bistros that channel Provence are harder to come by. Enter Zimmi’s, which brings the air of the south of France to the West Village. In the small storefront space, “the music is low and happy, the brown gingham tables disarmingly chic.” In the kitchen, chef Maxime Pradié draws on a childhood spent cooking with his grandmother to attain sumptuous results from humble dishes. His ratatouille is “an understated showstopper,” its vegetables stewed separately before their pure, floral flavors are tied together by a splash of vinegar. Lentils, the only side other than french fries, don’t quite fit with any course, but are “absolutely not to be missed.” While main courses change often, hits have included a gracefully plated boeuf bourguignon and a duck à l’orange “punched up with a doubling of citrus sauces.” One dish that has endured is the pastasciutta: tagliatelle tossed in a ragout of chicken liver, heart, and gizzard. Though “it doesn’t look or sound like much,” the dish “tastes like kissing God full on the mouth.” 72 Bedford St.

Petite Vie - Western Springs, Illinois

At this new restaurant from the Michelin star–winning chef Paul Virant, the “simple yet inventive” menu “explores France by way of the Midwest,” said Louisa Kung Liu Chu in the Chicago Tribune. The casual brasserie, set in the charming heart of suburban Western Springs, is worth the jaunt for plats du jour such as a boeuf bourguignon that’s served atop a “silky” celeriac puree and with a horseradish remoulade. The Midwestern flourishes are non-traditional and delicious, “but I do wish there were more of that defining and delicious red wine sauce.” A seasonal pithivier aux legumes, or vegetable puff-pastry pie, arrives adorned with ribbons of butternut squash and crispy fried parsnips. Virant’s most amusing innovation, though, is presenting potato dishes at market price, a distinction usually reserved for steaks and seafood. Here, “what some might consider the lowliest root vegetable” is elevated to great culinary heights in dishes like aligot, a mashed-potato and Gruyère combo “with an epic cheese pull,” and tartiflette, a potato casserole with bacon, crème fraîche, and Alsatian wine. Come dessert, pastry chef Angelyne Canicosa’s work shines in an “exquisitely reimagined” nougat glacé—a frozen honey parfait. 909 Burlington Ave.

Le Coq - La Jolla, California

Don’t let the cheeky name and erotic art distract you, said Troy Johnson in San Diego magazine. Le Coq (yes, it’s pronounced the way you imagine) is a serious Parisian steakhouse from a restaurant group that likes to build high-end restaurants, “then cartoonishly mock the haughty decorum of high-end restaurants.” Here, the walls are lined with small erotic photographs and the carpet is “so thick and luxurious it might have a sleep number.” But the kitchen is run by the James Beard–nominated chef Tara Monsod, whose talent is first revealed in a “fantastic” tuna tartare and fried headcheese, a dish that challenges our food hangups in the best way. The celery salad is “a shocking winner” as well as “the crunchiest salad you’ll ever eat.” And when you get to the mains, order the steak frites, “if only to try Monsod’s au poivre,” or the “sweet-and-sour riff on rack of lamb” doused in a mix of sorrel, kalamata olives, pickled grapes, and plums. Pleasures of the bedroom are the gimmick at Le Coq, but the pleasures on the plate will keep you coming back. 7837 Herschel Ave.