Frenchette — Restaurant in New York

I came here on the Wednesday after Christmas Day with my brother and sister-in-law right before 5:30pm, when they open. My sister-in-law had already cozied up to the bar with a drink but our table was set just a few minutes later. We were able to get seated with no problem, despite not having a reservation.

We ordered three drinks: the rayuela (a spicy, ginger-y tequila drink), the rose natural wine, and the night moves (a bourbon, cognac, walnut bitters, and fresh mint cocktail). Everything was excellent, with the night moves being particularly innovative -- the freshness of the mint really lifted the smokiness of the cognac, and the natural rose was tart and refreshing.

For appetizers, we split the cotechino sausage, the pork rillettes (which is more like a pate paired with bread and stewed prunes), and the leeks. The leeks were tasty and dressed with a burgundy truffle, although I felt the flavor was a little lost on me, since I didn't really realize I was eating truffle until later when I read the menu again. The rillette was definitely my favorite -- melt-in-your-mouth fatty without being too heavy, and paired perfectly with the sweet, soft prunes. The cotechino sausage was a very generous serving, paired with a rich broth on top of lentils I believe, and some sauteed veggies: it was a little rich, with fatty gelatinous chunks, but addictively tasty.

For entrees, we got the duck frites (delightfully prepared with crispy skin and just the perfect amount of pinkness within), the spring trout dressed with crab and capers, and the hare a la royale. The trout was definitely the winner of the night -- beautifully crispy skin, lovely tender fish within, and excellently dressed with generous lumps of crab meat. The hare wasn't my favorite -- I think they used a lot of other pieces of the hare that I don't particularly like such as liver, but the preparation was admittedly good. Weirdly, I was particularly impressed by the fries -- at first, I thought they were under-salted but they became addictive after the third bite, with pillowy-soft potato inside the light, crispy exterior.

Finally, for dessert, we split the selection of sorbets (chocolate, mandarin, grapefruit, and caracara) as well as the paris-brest to share. The paris-breast was really lovely, with flaky, light pastry and creamy candied pistachio cream in the middle, although I felt they went a bit heavy on the cream (but that's Parisian desserts for you). I did feel the dessert was missing an acidic element, but luckily we had the tart and tasty gelatos to pair with it.

Nitpicky cons: the waiters were very prompt, shall we say, about clearing out our appetizers -- there was a nibble of the cotechino sausage left and they whisked it away before we could finish it! It was a small nibble, though, and we were only sad because it was so delicious. We also asked for more bread but it never arrived -- a blessing in disguise, because we were stuffed by the end of the meal.

All told, for 3 drinks, 3 apps, 3 entrees, 1 side (cardoons), and 2 desserts, we (well my brother and sister-in-law :D) paid around $370 after tax and tip. Definitely a splurge, but given everything was tasty, worth a shot for a special occasion. Especially if you're a spoiled...

I am tempted to begin by sharing how, between my husband and I, we have over 70 years in the hospitality industry with the bulk of those years being in either truly French or French-inspired dining; and how I am also an alumnus of the McNally brothers (partners once upon a time) having been part of their opening teams back in the 80's. I could also begin with sharing the depth of my husband's career as a chef (trained here and abroad in France) and collaborator with some of NYC's most prominent restaurants. But, I won't begin with any of that. I'll find my voice as a middle-aged patron of a restaurant for the first time. One, I thought, which would extend its connection to "French" beyond the capable kitchen and into the fuller experience which encompasses the bar and dining room. In that voice, I state how terribly disappointed I was. Not with the cuisine - the kitchen does a wonderful job of producing technically wonderful food. It is the disconnect between what the kitchen creates and everything else. Call me old-fashioned but having spent my life understanding and executing what I'm proud to call the top of the tier for service, I could easily have closed my eyes (before eating) and imagined I was in a hip new bistro in a small midwestern town if I didn't experience what the kitchen could deliver. That brought me back to NYC but I really hated being yanked in and out of my fantasy. From the bar (no Ricard - I was told that no one drinks that in France with more attitude than alcohol in Absinthe -what??) to a newly-hired hostess who clearly could not commit to us as walk-ins at 5 for an early spot (until the kitchen opened at 5:30 - what??), we were never approached once the kitchen opened and walk-ins were being taken with the same line we ultimately were offered (I have one in the bar and one in the dining room) which had a magical multiplication of tables as we also received one in the dining room. I will stop here. Few options for vegetarians left me unable to enjoy so much of the menu as the majority of fare for omnivores was only offered for "2" -- I chose the lamb chops and, after an hour wait, was informed they were resting. Resting is part of the process - for the patron, it's not ready! Glad we didn't hear "they're plating it now!" Forget the over-priced, under-loved minimal wine by the glass selection. A man appeared with a bottle to pour short glasses of a red - either to thank us for waiting or to apologize for the delay - we weren't sure. My suggestion is that every employee who engages with patrons (forget the busboy who shared the men's room with my husband and headed out the door without washing his hands - we'd likely ask him to find a new job) go to a McNally restaurant (we suggest Balthazar) to learn professionalism, humility and redefine what you believe funkiness is. You were likely born in the 90's and unless you were of age in the 80's, funky is a value not...

My husband and I visited Frenchette after reading the numerous great reviews from critics such as the NY times, infatuation, vogue etc. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement. I have eaten in French bistros in NYC, London and Paris and can not understand where these good reviews are coming from! Especially when it is likened to Balthazar- it is not even close to being as high standard food, service and atmosphere as Balthazar. My only assumption is that these food critics have been paid or given a ‘special’ dining experience which the average diner does not experience.

When we arrived I was super excited to sit down and begin our experience, it seemed like a nice, relaxed buzzy atmosphere. The staff were relaxed, I wouldn’t say anything special but one particular server was friendly and welcoming. However I must comment that one waiter hardly spoke one word (not just to us, I noticed it was the same for other tables) I wondered if he couldn’t speak English- more on that later.

We ordered a bottle of red wine which was tasty. We asked what the waitress would recommend- we were looking at the chicken (for 2 people) or the duck frites (myself) & steak frites (husband)... she advised going for the duck and steak. Therefore we were anticipating some of the best versions of these iconic French dishes we have had (again due to the hype I had read plus the waitress’ recommendation). It arrived- I was in shock, not in a good way. The plate was far from refined, a slab of fatty, tough duck breast with hardly a any flavour which I couldn’t even cut with my sharp knife- this was accompanied by a pile of hard, luke warm fries and no sauce at all. My husbands steak was a little tastier as it had a pepper sauce with it- but the meat was far from being one of the best we’ve had and it was also very tough and fatty. To try and make my meal edible I asked for some of my husbands pepper sauce which helped.

In the end we both left about half of our meal - when the waiter (non- speaking) collected our plates I told him why we left so much, due to the tough meat and he just laughed and took our plates and walked off. I couldn’t believe it! So I told the female waitress whom had been good up until that point, when I described our issues and why we would’nt be ordering dessert, all she said was that she would tell the kitchen.

I honestly wouldn’t waste your time and money in this place. Coming from someone who has tried many top restaurants, plus bistros actually in Paris whom serve these classic dishes, it is severely disappointing and lacking in anything that would make it worth the price. I also want to say that I usually never complain, and I wanted this to be good as I was the one who researched and persuaded my husband that we should eat here.

#poorservice #dissapointed #badexperience #plainfood...