Cafe Francoeur: Too Perfect?
Bon appetit
Two months ago the British-themed pub Froggy’s, in the 18th, was gut-rehabbed into a French bistro called Café Francoeur. The tomato-red exterior was busted open to make an indoor-outdoor space in traditional French style. Almost too traditional. I love the red, yellow, and black rattan chairs. J’adore aussi the round lights flanking the door that say “Limonade” (and here’s why). But the thing is, it’s so perfectly retro that it looks like a movie set. Or like one of Keith McNally’s restaurants in New York, Pastis or Balthazar. “The owner goes to the United States a lot, and saw that re-created French bistros were a trend,” said a man who identified himself as the cafe director. “So he brought the idea back here. We’re the first one.” It took me a while to screw my head back on after pondering that idea.
R.I.P.
The food’s good (macaroni with foie gras is one of the cheeky nods to modernity via the past) and the prices fair. Still, I told a friend over dinner there tonight, “This place is so hit-you-over-the-head French I don’t feel like I’m in Paris.”
129 rue Caulaincourt, Metro: Jules Joffrin or Lamarck Caulaincourt