HotelChatter

Foie gras

Antipasti include southern France faves like marinated olives ($6), juicy tuna prepared three ways ($15), and creamy foie gras and chicken liver mousse served with braised radicchio and sweet onions, cornichons and country bread ($16). There are also two enormous seafood platters with every fruit de mer imaginable.

Moules Frites

Main courses focus on fish, and the staff will point you to options like the arctic char with braised cabbage and duck confit bacon ($24), and that staple of French brasseries everywhere, moules frites ($17), dressed up here with shaved fennel and a sharp Pernod broth. The braised lamb shoulder with stewed peppers and olives over creamy polenta ($26) is also popular. Though each of the dishes is substantial enough by itself, try the goat cheese petatou ($6) from the list of side garnitures—it’s kind of like cheese melted over tater tots.

Lamb Shoulder

Desserts from pastry chef Lee Smith are not-to-miss French classics like a dark chocolate and hazelnut dacquoise, and clafoutis studded with pistachios and blackberries ($9).

The wine list has mostly familiar names but also a few newcomers, but it’s easier and kind of fun to order a glass (or carafe) from the selection of house wines. Or better yet, one of the specialty beers on tap or by the bottle.

Clafoutis

While the menu is about as predictable as the plot of a romantic comedy, the see-and-be-seen but unflashy setting, and Chef Sascha Lyon’s (Balthazar, Pastis) dishes still manage to shine through like the latest Hollywood starlet taking her first walk down the red carpet.

All photos by Eric Rosen