One customer review complained of 1) a long wait 2) a grossly small restaurant with people bumping into your chair every time they pass 3) a rude and poorly trained staff with major attitude 4) a bus boy that thinks its ok to sweep and stack tables right beside you while you're still eating. They take no credit cards, no reservations, have no liquor license (BYO), yet they wait in line. Why? Many just love this place. NYC is a city of extremes and this includes restaurant experiences and opinions. Tartine was started by Thierry Rorchard and Jean-Francois Bernard, two chefs who had worked several decades in large French restaurants. This wonderful small French bistro at 253 West 11th Street on the corner of 4th Street is probably in the most bucolic area of town - the West Village between 7th and 8th Avenues. I have written before of this neighborhood - click on any of these four links - 39 & 41 Commerce, Cherry Lane Theater, 17 Grove Street and 121 Charles Street. Here you will find the charm of being in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The stretch of West 4th Street from 7th to 8th has a number of restaurants discreetly hidden - these blocks are decidedly non-commercial, in part due to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which has strict guidelines. I love al fresco dining but I find most streets in Manhattan much too busy. Tree lined West 4th street is the perfect place for a summer brunch. Be prepared to wait in line ...
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Paris in New York
One customer review complained of 1) a long wait 2) a grossly small restaurant with people bumping into your chair every time they pass 3) a rude and poorly trained staff with major attitude 4) a bus boy that thinks its ok to sweep and stack tables right beside you while you're still eating. They take no credit cards, no reservations, have no liquor license (BYO), yet they wait in line. Why? Many just love this place. NYC is a city of extremes and this includes restaurant experiences and opinions. Tartine was started by Thierry Rorchard and Jean-Francois Bernard, two chefs who had worked several decades in large French restaurants. This wonderful small French bistro at 253 West 11th Street on the corner of 4th Street is probably in the most bucolic area of town - the West Village between 7th and 8th Avenues. I have written before of this neighborhood - click on any of these four links - 39 & 41 Commerce, Cherry Lane Theater, 17 Grove Street and 121 Charles Street. Here you will find the charm of being in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The stretch of West 4th Street from 7th to 8th has a number of restaurants discreetly hidden - these blocks are decidedly non-commercial, in part due to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which has strict guidelines. I love al fresco dining but I find most streets in Manhattan much too busy. Tree lined West 4th street is the perfect place for a summer brunch. Be prepared to wait in line ...
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14 comments:
This looks so un-New York! I hate to wait in line for anything, but I'd consider waiting for a table here.
rd - That whole immediate neighborhood is so un-New York and I imagine a surprise to visitors. However, many visitors to NYC are looking for excitement, action, activities. So this place is perhaps more special for residents or those who find the contrast interesting.
Brian
I guess the customers sitting here can't expect to have a private conversation! They're jammed into every spare inch of sidewalk! It does look like a fun place, however.
Brian, you tell the story very well. I read the whole thing and looked at each referenced link. I found them all compelling. You are also an excellent photographer with an eye for composition as well as content. I hope you enjoy the times you take these pictures because they look like you are in love with what you do.
Abraham Lincoln
Now You Know Where Flowers Go
Abraham - Thanks. It's only recently that I have started to appreciate what I have and where I live. It's so easy to become a cynical and a malcontent. I know so many including myself that complained about NYC for years and were always threatening to move somewhere else. But NYC is truly a great city. The cost of housing is the single biggest problem now.
Brian
I love visiting your site daily. It is so much fun to see the city and be educated about it at the same time!
I like it when people can sit outside to eat.
You're right. It does look like a little corner of Paris. Rude service and all, it is very reminiscent. There are several little places in Toronto where if you squint your eyes, you'd think your in the heart of the left bank. A bientot!
carol e said: I guess the customers sitting here can't expect to have a private conversation!
OK, sweeping generalisation coming up: I've never known a New Yorker to be worried about whether their conversation is private or broadcast on major network TV!
Lovely lookign place - I hope the critics stay away to make more room for the rest of us!
I suppose the difference between NYC & Paris is that in Paris, I understand you may linger all day long at your table, if you so desire.
However, my general impression of most NYC restaurants is that the diner is shuttled in and out as fast as humanly possible. Time is money, after all!
LOL!
Looks like a great place to eat
What a lovely and charming place!
Charming restaurant; charming street. I agree absolutely with Abraham Lincoln who is one of the best blog photographers around (says she who still uses an Olympic Trip 35). My husband is the photographer in the family (or so he thinks). I really do enjoy your blog Brian although I haven't visited for a while. My dream of getting to New York has been postponed; I only got as far as Tahiti a couple of weeks ago!
Reading your blog little by little when I have the time it's a fabulous way to visit NY again... And your comments make me laugh, this one in particular. A long wait, rude and poorly trained staff with major attitude, no place to move, this is a real French café you're describing here ! And as a French, I 'm a bit ashamed of that state of things, but obviously some American people enjoy it...Sorry, awfully sorry for our bad manners...
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