Critics’ choice: New takes on French cuisine

Featuring simple dishes, a Michelin star-winning chef, and a cheeky steakhouse

Ratatouille
Dine at Zimmi’s, Petite Vie, or Le Coq
(Image credit: Green Art Photography / Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More