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“Cercle Rouge”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	French	Tribeca	Moderate	Good

I think it’s safe to say that the French bistro model has pretty much been done. From Balthazar to Bistro du Vent, New Yorkers are not unfamiliar with frisee salads, steak frites, and faux distressed vintage mirrors. So really, a new bistro is usually not much reason for excitement. But when the chef in the kitchen is David Feau, who cut his teeth at Guy Savoy’s Bistro de L’Etoile in Paris and then worked as executive chef at Lutece, well, you pay attention.

Cercle Rouge is owned by Georges Forgeois (Jules, Café Noir), and managed with charm, grace, and many air kisses by Fabrice Warin (formerly of Orsay). It is as beautiful a bistro as any in the McNally chain, but it is a bit more elegant and not quite as crowded and frenetically paced. It is decorated with real vintage mirrors (as Keith’s places are), and potted palms, with glossy dark wood floors, long cozy banquettes, and sturdy wooden tables. The room is crowned with tin ceilings, and whirring ceiling fans. If you are more comfortable dining at the bar, there is a long and sexy one in the casual café up front, and there’s plenty of outdoor seating reached through French doors that open onto the street. Taken all together, the décor and the atmosphere of Cercle Rouge makes you feel like life is a leisurely act to be to be filled by consuming Kir Royales, reading, having lots of sex, and occasionally shopping. And so I was surprised that in such a beautiful restaurant where I felt so absolutely gorgeous and so much like a close relative of Catherine Deneuve, that I would find myself licking my fingers and in need of a tub of wet naps after tearing into a plate of the most unbelievable chicken wings I have ever had the pleasure of consuming in my life.

Honestly, I don’t know why they were on the menu. It doesn’t really make sense in terms of the concept. Cercle Rouge is a French bistro featuring classics (raw bar, skate, steak frites). I strongly doubt that fiery lollipop style chicken wings have ever graced a bistro menu before, but here they were on the appetizer list at Cercle Rouge, tucked between the Chopped Vegetable Salad ($8.50) and the Clam Chowder with Chorizo “New England Style ($11.50). In fact, they seemed so out of place that I didn’t even notice them until I asked to see the menu later on in the meal. But they have changed my life. For my next hangover, I will be at the bar with several plates of these ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 16, 2005

Other restaurants in Tribeca :
+ Lunchbox Food Company--Closed   + 66: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Ola-- Closed   + Bouley   + Dominic   + Landmarc   + Pace-- Closed   + EN Japanese Brasserie   + Centrico   + Cercle Rouge   + The Harrison   + Turks & Frogs Tribeca   + Devin Tavern   + Dani-- Closed Now   + Bacaro/Smith & Mills   + The Harrison   + Matsugen, By Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Forge   + Macao Trading Company   + Harbour   + Review text tbd...   + Mehtaphor   + Brushstroke   + Jung Sik   

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