The hunt for a real French restaurant outside of a Francophone country is a challenging one. Every foodie Francophile knows that feeling of entering a restaurant that Google maps listed as “French,” and realizing that it is not in fact French. Tartines may be on the menu, but there’s also spicy chicken marsala. The service is fast — so fast that your dessert is brought to the table before you finish eating your main course. The menu says “ála carte” at the top.
Everyone’s favorite language duo Damon and Jo, American expats in France, are experts on French restaurants. On a trip to New York, they test out a few French restaurants to see how French they really are.
The busyness, the bad baguette, the non-French music… it’s an experience quite unlike France. Of course, the most appalling thing is the prices. French food and wine in France is quotidian and the prices reflect that, but in the U.S., it’s a delicacy. It makes you wonder if sometimes restaurants raise their prices just because they know they can…
