Frenchette Awards

Frenchette Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant & décor: Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, formerly of Balthazar and Minetta Tavern, are behind this trendy TriBeCa hotspot that has rendered a spot-on French bistro meets downtown New York City vibe. In the front, there’s a buzzy lounge with a long zinc bar; in back through two arches, a 105-seat dining room with comfortable red-leather banquettes and wood paneling.

Likes: Great esoteric wine list; blowfish tails; gnocchi Parisienne; lobster.
Dislikes: Can get loud and crowded.

Food & Drinks: The menu is not shy about branching out from French bistro standards. Start with a fluffy Spanish tortilla topped with caviar. Frenchette grills blowfish tails, coats them in chili butter, and serves the juicy beauties on the bone. Creamy scrambled eggs are topped with a tiny hill of sautéed snails, adding briny dimension. Duck Frites arrives as a crispy-skinned duck breast with a mountain of fries: it’s super simple and equally satisfying. Pillowy gnocchi Parisienne are a side dish not to be missed, especially with sweet rotisserie lobster doused in curried butter. Pastry chef Michelle Palazzo makes a delicate strawberry Pavlova and a decadent Paris Brest, filled with rich pistachio cream. The mostly French wine list, created by Jorge Riera (previously at Wildair), focuses on natural wines --- think chilled reds, obscure grape varieties and plenty of funk.