Free Williamsburg

The Williamsburg Brooklyn-based culture guide to New York and beyond.

Chez Ma Tante

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“There’s a little bit of maple syrup everywhere,” says Chef Aidan O’Neal, whose new restaurant Chez Ma Tante opened in the former Jimmy’s space on Greenpoint’s Calyer Street… That a Vancouver native who spent five years in Montreal prior to moving to NYC would employ Canada’s sweet liquid gold wherever possible is not surprising, but O’Neal’s employing a nuanced, measured hand.

Featured Reviews

  • Boasting a strong Canadian influence, this American bistro (named for a Montreal hot dog joint) in Greenpoint offers raw-bar items, charcuterie and seasonal veggies and mains by alums of Café Altro Paradiso. Dark woods and white walls lend a simple, unassuming feel to the dining room and bar.

  • Restaurateur, Josh Cohen (who previously owned the hit spot, Jimmy’s Diner) has enlisted the help of Aidan O’Neal and Jake Leiber, who have both served significant time at the celebrated, Café Altro Paradiso, to head up this new addition to the area… A native of Vancouver, O’Neal spent five years in Montreal before moving to NYC and pays homage to a restaurant he loved there, which also inspired the name, Chez Ma Tante (‘at my aunt’s’)…  The menu is broken into categories for raw & cooked selfish, charcuterie, salads & vegetables and mains. There’s dishes like marinated mussels and clams, country pâté and skate wing. Dessert offers up items like rhubarb custard tart and a sorbet with Polish vodka.

  • “There’s a little bit of maple syrup everywhere,” says Chef Aidan O’Neal, whose new restaurant Chez Ma Tante opened in the former Jimmy’s space on Greenpoint’s Calyer Street… That a Vancouver native who spent five years in Montreal prior to moving to NYC would employ Canada’s sweet liquid gold wherever possible is not surprising, but O’Neal’s employing a nuanced, measured hand. He and chef de cuisine Jake Leiber—who met working at Cafe Altro Paradiso—lacquer salmon gravlax with gin and maple syrup while it’s drying to build up its texture, combine it with chardonnay vinegar to finish a falafel dish, and there’s a little bit of it on the rhubarb custard tart, too.

  • Considering the moniker means “At My Aunt’s,” the atmosphere is suitably non-pretentious, though the fare in no way could be considered especially homespun. Well befitting a French boite, you’ll find pebbled salmon tartare cured with maple syrup and gin, grilled veal steaks paired with creamy, corpulent butter beans, fans of skate wing over sabayon and leeks, and wagyu short rib steak, teamed with wedge-style frites and prune-anchovy ketchup.

Getting There

Falansai

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Street-food Hanoi and Saigon style, with a subtle french twist. An eclectic blend of dishes with just enough French influence to make them decadent. We recommend the Clay Pot Catfish and the Lemongrass Pork Chop.

Featured Reviews

  • In a dark, industrial corner of Bushwick, the son of a Chinese refugee has opened a Vietnamese eatery and cheekily named it after his father’s mispronunciation of “français.” As you enter, you’ll see a lightbulb hanging in a pagoda-shaped birdcage and hear loungey French music that quietly fills the sparsely decorated interior. At lunch, you can slurp up beef-noodle pho and munch on Dad’s shrimp roll, which tastes like a crab cake and has a crispy tofu skin wrapping. At dinner, tender little cubes of filet mignon come to your table fresh from the wok.

  • New York’s roster of fancified Vietnamese restaurants is growing, from Nightingale 9 in Carroll Gardens to Bún-Ker in Ridgewood and Falansai in North Brooklyn. They’re a change-up—if not always successful—from the city’s more casual restaurants, many of which in Chinatown, that hunker down with classic dishes like banh mi or pho. Falansai offers both of those things, but plenty more with a sophisticated edge, and they do so in an equally classed-up setting that has plenty for vegetarians.

Getting There

Juliette

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A popular French bistro just blocks from the Bedford Ave L stop. The space is large and good for groups with a spacious rooftop dining space.

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  • Juliette is a quaint French bistro that serves unfussy but elegant food in a large, romantic space. The multi-room restaurant includes a bar area, an indoor garden room with plants hanging from the ceiling, and a large rooftop patio. The dinner and brunch menus stick to classic French dishes like croque monsieur, steak tartare, and crispy duck confit, but you’ll always find a burger with pomme frites.

  • The large space comprises a bar area with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a banquette-lined back room, a glass-ceilinged indoor patio, and a large roof garden with its own bar. Throughout is a romantic mix of French country, deco, and Art Nouveau—warmly lit by antique light fixtures. The menu is equally classic, with an assortment of salads followed by favorites like moules and steak frites.

Getting There

Le Barricou

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An American cafe on the quieter end of Bedford Ave great for a casual, low-key meal. Rabbithole is not a “destination” restaurant and that’s a good thing when you want a reliably good brunch or an unpretentious dinner spot. The Lamb Burger is popular as is the Homemade Potato Gnocci with Wild Mushrooms. They have a small garden for outdoor dining in the warmer months.

Featured Reviews

  • “A local favorite” known for its “great brunch experience”, this “old-school” East Williamsburg bistro offers “more-than-solid” French staples at “cost-effective” rates; just “expect to wait” when weekends roll around (“it’s totally worth it”).

  • Le Barricou is famous for its weekend brunch—though you’ll have to put up with a long wait, your patience is rewarded with dishes like supersize berry-covered pancakes ($10), a stellar apple frittata ($10) made with bacon and gruyere cheese or a classic croque madame ($13), a French grilled cheese sandwich made with ham and topped with a dribbling sunnyside-up egg… But dinner at Le Barricou is no wash, either. Fill up on flavorful hors d’oeuvres like escargot ($9) and mussels mariniere served with frites ($16); the Le Barricou house salad ($10), made with tomato, bacon, parmesan cheese and croutons, is a decadent treat. For entrees, the burger ($13) is a juicy hunk of grass fed Pat la Frieda beef, served with housemade pickles on a buttery brioche roll and paired with a side of frites. And the Coq au van is a delight, chicken cooked in rich red wine with lardon, baby carrots, pearl onions and a creamy potato puree.

Getting There

Le Garage

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The dining room, like the food, puts on few airs. And we mean that in a good way. The menu is French and the food is simple, traditional and, well, delicious. Stand-outs include the chicken for two and the braised pork shoulder in milk with roasted fennel and chestnut.

Featured Reviews

  • The food is French fancy-casual, with an airiness befitting Bushwick; that is, there is space between tables. (“I feel like I’m out of town,” chirped a recent patron, having arrived from distant Williamsburg.) The chicken for two is an ode to bird and butter. Presented before it’s carved, the dish is a sculpture to behold under the massive skylight—you might pause a moment before digging in. But chicken this crispy and juicy, served alongside lemongrass-sweet-potato purée, has a way of disappearing fast. The foie gras and steak satisfy, but it’s the sea bass that surprises, its skin like lattice, heaped with lightly charred ramps. Try it after the fried panisse: falafel batons of ineffable daintiness. The confit charlotte potatoes, stuffed with hazelnuts and snails, show the kitchen’s skill at keeping classic French ingredients on the delicate side of robust. Dessert’s a mille-feuille deconstructed, because who can bother with fussy layers when fluffy lemon custard’s involved? But nothing beats the simple chocolate cake: the menu’s exquisite last word.

  • [The] menu is full of familiar and unexpected pleasures: a simple starter of radishes and sesame salt sits side-by-side an elegant plate of homemade foie gras, served here with baby beets and winter radish.Everything on the menu is meant for sharing and encourages diners to mix and match. For heartier fare, you really must try the braised pork shoulder in milk with roasted fennel and chestnut. A classic French dish, the tough cut of meat is roasted then slow cooked in milk until it is achingly tender.

Getting There