The room is loud, the zinc bar is three-deep by eight, and the duck frites lands crackling and pink. Frenchette, in Tribeca, makes the case that French food outside France is at its best when it stops trying to be a temple.
Most guides to French dining abroad chase the three stars. This one starts at the other end, with the brasserie, because that is where the French tradition lives every day rather than once a year. Frenchette leads, and from there the list runs up through the formal rooms for contrast, so you can see the full spectrum, from a Tribeca duck frites to a Park Lane palace. Each pick names the chef, the dish, the price and the address, and says who it is, and is not, for.
The Picks
Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr spent years making Balthazar and Minetta Tavern hum before they opened Frenchette in Tribeca, which won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2019. The duck frites is the dish everyone orders, the natural and biodynamic wine list is among the best in the city, and the room is built for noise and conversation. This is the brasserie tradition exported and improved, French cooking without the hush.
A Beard-winning Tribeca brasserie of duck frites and natural wine — go for the best French Tuesday in New York.
Not for anyone expecting a quiet, formal tasting-menu evening; the charm here is the volume and the wine list. More in our New York dining guide and the best French restaurants worldwide.
Step up the formality and you reach Daniel. Daniel Boulud's flagship is the grande dame of French fine dining in New York, a Michelin-starred room of Lyonnaise technique that has run at the top of the city for three decades. The roasted duck and the DB classics anchor the menu, and the neo-Renaissance dining room is as formal as Manhattan gets. It is the brasserie's polished opposite, the special-occasion French room.
Daniel Boulud's thirty-year French institution on the Upper East Side — reserve the dining room for a black-tie night out.
Not for the underdressed or the budget-minded; this is jacket territory. See the Daniel feature.
At the apex of French cooking in New York sits Le Bernardin. Eric Ripert has held three Michelin stars here for years, cooking the most disciplined seafood in America under a menu sorted into "Almost Raw, Barely Touched, Lightly Cooked." The barely-cooked langoustine and the tuna carpaccio built the reputation. If Frenchette is the brasserie, this is the cathedral, and the contrast tells you everything about French dining's range abroad.
America's three-star French-seafood temple under Eric Ripert — go once and let the kitchen run the tasting.
Not for a meat-first diner or a loud celebration; the focus is fish and the room is quiet. Read the Le Bernardin feature.
For the luxury extreme, there is Caviar Russe, a Michelin-starred jewel box above Madison Avenue under chef Edgar Panchernikov. The tasting menus are built around caviar itself, spooned and unadorned, climbing to a Grand Tasting near $975 a head, among the priciest in America. It shows the far end of the French luxury register transplanted to New York, the polar opposite of Frenchette's unbuttoned brasserie energy.
America's most single-minded caviar room, starred for years — book the upstairs table when the splurge is the point.
Not for a casual dinner or anyone indifferent to caviar; the whole menu is built on it. See the Caviar Russe feature.
Cross the Atlantic for the European benchmark. Chef patron Jean-Philippe Blondet has run Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester to three Michelin stars since 2010, with the sauté of lobster and truffled pasta and the tableside rum baba on the menu since 2007. The Table Lumière, behind 4,500 fibre-optic strands, is the set piece. It is the most formal point on this spectrum, as far from a brasserie as French cooking gets.
London's definitive three-star French room since 2010 — fly over and book the Table Lumière for a landmark night.
Not for a relaxed or budget evening; it is formal and expensive by design. Read the Alain Ducasse feature and our London dining guide.
Guy Savoy brought his Parisian flagship's signatures to Caesars Palace, including the artichoke-and-black-truffle soup with toasted brioche and mushroom butter, and the bread bar that closes the meal. The Las Vegas room is a Forbes Five-Star fixture overlooking the Strip, French haute cuisine played entirely straight with no concession to the casino around it. It rounds out the spectrum: the Paris flagship, faithfully exported to the desert.
Guy Savoy's Parisian classics, artichoke soup and all, on the Strip — book it to impress a client in Las Vegas.
Not for a quick pre-show bite; give it the full evening. See the Guy Savoy Las Vegas feature.
How We Ranked These
We deliberately inverted the usual order, leading with the brasserie because Frenchette is the article's subject and the clearest proof that French food abroad does not have to mean a tasting menu. From there the list climbs through the formal rooms, Daniel, Le Bernardin, Caviar Russe, Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy, so you can read the full spectrum from a great Tuesday to a once-a-year occasion. Each pick names a chef, a dish, a price and an address. For the cuisine, see the best French restaurants worldwide; for the occasion, the hub for a first date; and for the wider series, our feature on the best French restaurants outside France.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Frenchette worth it?
Yes, if you want great French cooking without the formality or the tasting-menu price. Frenchette won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2019, and chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the team behind Balthazar and Minetta Tavern, run it as a proper brasserie. The duck frites and the natural-wine list are the draw, the room is loud and convivial, and you order à la carte rather than committing to a fixed menu.
What should I order at Frenchette?
Start with the duck frites, the dish most regulars build a meal around, and lean on the kitchen's rotating specials and whatever is fresh that day. The wine list is the other reason to come: a deep, frequently changing selection of natural and biodynamic bottles that the staff know well. Ask them to steer you. The menu shifts with the season, so trust the specials board as much as the printed list.
How hard is it to book Frenchette?
Easier than the city's three-star rooms, but a prime weekend table still wants a week or two of notice. Frenchette takes reservations online, and weeknights are more forgiving than Friday and Saturday. Walk-ins can find space at the bar, which is one of the better places to eat in the room. For a group or a weekend dinner, book ahead; for a spontaneous solo meal, try the bar.
What is the difference between a French brasserie and French fine dining?
A brasserie like Frenchette serves French classics à la carte in a lively, informal room, duck frites, steak, natural wine, with no fixed menu and no ceremony. French fine dining, as at Le Bernardin or Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, means a formal room, a tasting or prix-fixe menu, jackets and a much higher bill. One is a great Tuesday; the other is a once-a-year occasion.
What are the best casual French restaurants in the US?
Frenchette in Tribeca is the standard-bearer, a Beard-winning brasserie of duck frites and natural wine. Across the country, the casual French tradition shows up in bistros and brasseries that prize good cooking over formality. For the formal end of French dining in America, Le Bernardin and Daniel in New York lead; for the relaxed end, Frenchette and its brasserie peers are the answer.