Over the past decade Benoit has become not only a bonafide New York bistro with a faithful West Side and Theater clientele, but over the past year it has gotten better after a period of coasting. Never meant to be an adventurous place to dine, Benoit maintains a menu of French classics you’ll find at scores of others in New York or Paris, but Executive Chef Laëtitia Rouabah, herself a Parisian who previously worked at the esteemed Allard, has re-affirmed the kitchen’s strengths and freshened what had become a bit stale.
The restaurant falls under the umbrella of Ducasse Paris, which bases Benoit NY on the Paris original, opened in 1912 at 20 Rue Saint-Martin, and now with a branch in Tokyo. Though it never looked like its Parisian predecessor, Benoit NY used to be done in a cheery, wood-paneled bistro décor, complete with trompe l’oeil ceiling clouds, but two-and-a-half years ago underwent a radical shift to an all-white paint job, save for the red banquettes and brass accents. The clouds have vanished. Most tables have white tablecloths, some have white-and-gray marble tops, still others shiny metal. Fortunately, the brightness of the room has now been moderated to provide a warmer ambience. Up front the wine bar and lounge has become quite glamorous.
Service, by a largely French staff, is swift and very accommodating. There is a sturdy, short wine list appended to the menu, and the full list has more than 700 selections.
Rouabah has kept the classics on Benoit’s menu, like the perfect onion soup gratinée ($17) and Alsatian tarte flambée($15), and she’s brought back the quenelles of pike with sauce Nantua ($28). Hot, puffy gougères arrive the moment you sit down, and excellent breads and butter follow.
The best approach to the hors d’oeuvres is to go with an assortment of three ($16) or five ($22) , which include impeccably rendered pork rillettes, crispy pig’s trotter with tartar sauce, rabbit porchetta with mustard and tarragon, roasted smoked eggplant with peanuts and basil dressing, squid with chickpeas and more. An order of five can easily be shared by two or three people.
Among first courses that include the onion soup and tarte flambéeis an excellent duck foie gras terrine with rhubarb and strawberry with slices of toasted buttery brioche ($29). There is also a flakey pâté en croûte ($20) from a recipe that dates back to 1892 by Master Chef Lucien Tendret.
At the moment, white asparagus ($29) are on the seasonal menu with an orange-tinged maltaise sauce and Kaluga caviar (produced in China), which adds nothing but a fishy taste to the asparagus. The night I had them the asparagus had little of the sweetness they have at their best.
The roast chicken, always a bistro classic, is now offered for one ($31) or two ($56), and the single portion is an enormous platter of juicy, full-flavored chicken that receives a benediction of buttery pan juices. Along with it, and some other dishes, come what may well be New York’s perfect frites, tasting richly of good potatoes, perfectly crisp and nice and hot.
Steak frites is not only a good buy at $37 but, made with skirt steak, has even more flavor than the usual onglet. Sweetbreads with vegetable jus is another generously proportioned dish, though a tad pricey at $49.
Cheeses at Benoit are kept at the proper condition and temperature. Currently, the selection of three ($20) are the rarely seen mothais sur feuille goat’s cheese, Comté, and Fourme d’Ambert, which may be paired with wines at $18.
Desserts have always been a good draw at Benoit—not a bad idea for after theater or a movie—including a rummy baba ($12), homey crème caramel ($8), marvelously composed tarte Tatin to share ($24), and hot, ice cream-stuffed profiteroles ($22) that you spike on a fork and dip into a fondue-like hot chocolate sauce. And you get a big pile of them.
Alain Ducasse’s New York City ventures have come and gone over the years, but Benoit endures for all the right reasons, and now, under Chef Rouabah, the cooking is better than ever, very consistent and full of largess. Benoit draws all types, from West Siders, theatergoers, shoppers and nightly solo diners who set themselves behind a well-set table, ask for their favorite waiter, nurse a cocktail and order dishes that they may well take home half of. I do miss the former woodwork, but Benoit is a very cheery place deserving of its longevity.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
BENOIT
60 West 55th Street (near Sixth Avenue)
212-943-7373
