Le Gratin

Daniel Boulud's bistro in the Beekman hotel is modeled on the bouchons of Lyon, where he grew up, and it feels more personal than most of his rooms: mirrored walls, cigar-colored banquettes and flowers painted on the wall tiles. It reads Parisian bistro rather than fine dining, and it is the better for it.

Order from the Lyonnaise specialties. The salade lyonnaise with pork belly and chicken livers, a pike quenelle in a mushroom-Gruyère béchamel, and the house escargots are the usual starting points, with rillettes or pâté en croûte for the table and duck or a classic like Dover sole to follow.