French Bistro, Outdoor Garden
http://www.aocnyc.com/
314 Bleeker St. @ Grove – West Village

This spring we are on a quest for outdoor dining spots.  Not eating on the sidewalk by the garbage, mind you, but real outdoor garden or patio seating.  My Great Uncle lived in NYC for his entire adult life and also traveled the world.  He loved New York most of all, but when asked if he’d like to dine outside [on the street], he always had one reply; ‘This isn’t Paris.’ I tend to agree. There are a few spots with low traffic or nice trees where it works, but not many.

We have always been intrigued by the beautiful garden seating at this restaurant when walking up Grove St.  As you approach Bleeker, it is on the right side.  Lucky for us, it turned out to be charming French Bistro, whose name and storefront we had seen a hundred times but never tried.  For the ladies, it is across from Reiss on Bleeker or for the foodies, it is next door to what was Choptank.  When we entered, there wasn’t a diner in the whole place?!  But as we walked to the rear the sunlight from the outdoor garden streamed in and we found a crowd seated for lunch, which grew to capacity by the time we left.

The food was very nice.  I had a classic tuna nicoise salad and Steve had ‘Le Club’, which was anything but a classic club sandwich on a pressed baguette.  The presentation was excellent and we both loved the dressing on our salads.  Everything was well prepared, although I regretted not asking for my tuna rare.  I requested medium and it was overdone.  My fault though.  It was still tasty.  We’ll go back in the summer to try a candlelit dinner.

Tuna Nicoise Salad $17

Le Club Chicken, Bacon, Swiss, Lettuce, Tomato & Pesto $12.50

Steve