By Jiyeon Yoo, Metromix, and Katherine Spiers, Special to Metromix
Let’s admit it: Everyone loves to French. Frenching with a view, Frenching at a bar, Frenching in the back of a dark restaurant…it’s all good. And with the latest invasion of cafes and bars, brasseries and bistros, L.A. is swimming with new places to get your French on in a variety of amusing ways: liquid, solid or something in between. Grab a baguette (or a skinny hottie in a striped shirt) and laissez les bon temps roulez!
As infamously sceney as the Chateau next door, Bar Marmont reinvented itself last summer, updating its boho interior (no worries, the canopy of butterflies remains) and hiring a bona fide chef in Carolynn Spence, ex of NYC’s Spotted Pig. The menu is deftly gastropub, and the foodies have responded in droves, braving the $18 weekend valet and parade of stars (and star-effers) to sample gougeres, fried artichokes and the deliciously boozy bacon-wrapped prunes.
Summarily closed in early 2006, Bastide in its second coming is just as momentous. The formal gate, like a portal to the South of France, opens to one of the most elegant patios in the city. The menu is prix fixe, helmed by Chef Walter Manzke, who has a knack for avant-garde cuisine with playful gastronomic twists. Each course is sparse, but with seven of them—and the option of paired wines—you won’t find anything lacking in this one-of-a-kind dining experience.
Was there a time we didn’t know the ooh-la-la, robin’s-egg-blue loveliness of Boule? The sweet spot on La Cienega revolutionized the way L.A. eats chocolate, pastries and crème glacée—only to outgrow its original location and move into bigger digs just three doors down. While the ovens continue to churn out favorites like macarons and kouign amanns, the newly christened Atelier has expanded its offerings to a full menu of (what else?) bread.
Decked out in reds, chandeliers, bronze statuary and more chandeliers, Café La Boheme looks as drag-alicious as ever—even after last autumn’s renovation. The menu is still incongruously Asian fusion, offering dishes like miso-glazed salmon and duck with plum sauce that have nothing to do with French Bohemia. But does it really matter when you’re dining in one of the city’s most romantic rooms, especially if “Les Cage aux Folles”-meets-“Moulin Rouge” theatricality is your thing?
Once Silverlake’s best-kept secret, Cafe Stella is expanding. The intimate restaurant, which is nestled in the corner of Sunset Junction, is building out a full-wine bar as it grows into the adjacent space. That means an inside table is no longer such precious commodity, although a seat in the candlelit courtyard with a glass of vin and a sampling of the traditional Gallic fare is still one of the most idyllic ways to spend an evening out.
Monsieur James Beard Outstanding Chef Michel Richard returns to L.A., where he established his culinary fame with Citrus in the 80s. Citrus of the new millennium is set in Social Hollywood, of all places. Luckily, the massive door is offset from the sanctimonious velvet rope, and the whimsical lemony-lime interior with vaulted ceilings helps you easily forget the club scene right next door. And the food? Well, with dishes like lobster with fake “begula” caviar and chicken faux gras, it’s the playful magic of Chef Richard—with the lofty prices to boot.
New York's Balthazar can eat its bouillabaisse out: The destination brasserie has arrived in Los Angeles with David Myers' modern take on a Parisian way of life. The stylized interior is divided into several rooms like an aristocratic manse. Check out the chalkboards—the walls are covered in them—not only for the specials du jour but for ever-changing chalk graffiti of quips, quotes and caricatures. The food is phenomenal, bien sûr—morning, noon and until midnight.
One of 2007 bright new stars, Fraiche is helmed by Jason Travi, who made a name for himself—yes, an Italian name—at La Terza. The cuisine, therefore, skews more rustic Italia but, hey, at least “fraiche” and notorious enfant terrible GM Thierry Perez are French. But the kitchen throws down bistro classics with the best of them: moules frites, beef tartare, fruits de mer and even a boudin noir that would make you forget that you’re eating blood sausage.
Through the Green Door is a turn-of-the-century French estate with red velvet couches, iron tables, chandeliers and museum-worthy murals. It’s cavernous, too: There’s an open-air stone lounge in front where people can smoke and eat (a French combination that will never go out of style), plus two bars and a circular salon in back. Getting in, however, is not easy, lest you have dinner reservations or are prepared to plunk down a few Benjamins for bottle service.
Crepes not only taste better but are less calorie-laden when enjoyed beachside, no? The Long Beach favorite quietly set up a second location in downtown Manhattan Beach, and locals are already making it a regular breakfast spot. Contrary to the name, the cafe offers an extensive menu of omelets, pastas, panini and dinner entrees. But if you’re out to prove that man can live on crepes alone, the laundry list of savory and sweet should help in your endeavor.
It’s a “coffee boutique” of all things, dressed up in neo-Baroque regalia and custom-made Parisian wallpaper. LAMILL’s unprecedented collaboration with Providence restaurant also busts out a brasserie-style menu that’s got food connoisseurs all a-twitter. Chef Michael Cimarusti has devised cafe-inspired dishes such as frisee au lardons with coffee-infused vinaigrette, as well as two variations on the Franco import of the moment, oeuf en cocotte.
With a rustic sidewalk patio and owners who long ago developed Figaro into an Eastside mainstay, Mes Amis has all the components of the quintessential Los Feliz restaurant. The spacious dining room and tufted banquettes invite patrons to stick around awhile and sample bistro classics: steak frites, pan bagnat, bouillabaisse, cote de beouf. For Francophobes, there's also pizza—and an extensive wine and beer list that would make fast friends with anybody.
A beloved hideout at the Original Farmers Market, Monsieur Marcel has expanded to yet another consumerist vortex of Third Street Promenade. The sleek glass structure eschews Country French and looks more like a retrofitted newsstand, but the menu is classic Marcel: platters of charcuterie et fromages, French onion soup, escargots and plenty of wine options. Proximity to Santa Monica’s Wednesday mart ensures a steady stream of gourmands—and perhaps the occasional celebrity chef or two.
The age of the hyper-specialized dessert shop has reached its apex. First there were cupcakes and just cupcakes; now Paulette of Beverly Hills only knows macarons—the crunchy almond pâte filled with ganache. With at least a dozen flavors daily, Paulette sets out a gorgeous Technicolor display with selections that run from classic, such as lemon and chocolate, to nouveau, like peach, Colombian coffee, and New Orleans praline made with caramel and hazelnut—all for $1.50 each.
L.A.'s got a Q-Bar. And we've got an R Bar. So it just makes alphabetical sense that someone should open an S Bar. Once again, the bad boys of SBE—who pretty much own L.A. nightlife—teamed with French designer Philippe Starck, who not only decorated the bar to look like Alice’s Wonderland tripped up on acid, but also hung large-scale trompe l’oeil depictions of the Palace of Versailles.
Salades de Provence serves elaborate green affairs dressed up with roasted vegetables, smoked salmon and lamb, to name a few. The inflated prices fit the très français name and West Hollywood location, while the modest, Parisian-like portions appeal to the same yuppified nabe that gave birth to the notion of eating tart frozen yogurt for dinner. If grazing isn’t your thing, the restaurant also offers glacées and a selection of hand-sewn Mariages Frères teas.
Sgt. Recruiter may be connected to the Spanish tapas restaurant Cobras & Matadors, but the bar is decidedly French-inspired. The impressive wine list not only pays homage to the wine cafes of Paris, but there are frites galore—steak, moules, pommes, you name it! The tiny space only seats 14 at its copper-top bar, almost giving it the vibe of a private tasting room—perfect for wine snobs and vino novices alike.
After unceremoniously parting ways with Bastide, chef Alain Giraud is opening a brasserie in Santa Monica—just christened: Anisette.
Mec, a French bistro from the former manager of Dominick’s, is taking over a former Russian restaurant along Fairfax Ave. “Dude”—no seriously, that’s what ‘mec’ means.
Jiyeon Yoo is Restaurants editor for Metromix Los Angeles. Katherine Spiers is a contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
