If you view a leisurely lunch of escargots and roast lamb as the height of civilization -- and there's no reason not to -- then you can look forward to the opening of Benoit, Alain Ducasse's new bistro, where the cooking feels like Paris about a hundred years ago. After taking over the original Benoit in the French capital, where the bistro's been an institution since 1912, Ducasse has established an American outpost in Midtown in the former space of the grand dame of French haute cooking, La Cote Basque.

Bistro cooking isn't about surprise -- it's about executing the classics, and Benoit delivers with a terrine de foie gras, and an expertly turned lobster ravioli. You can also have a roast chicken for two, or pike quenelles, a dish Julia Child always loved. Finish with a wheel of Camembert and a chocolate soufflé and you probably won't need to eat again for at least a day. --David Coggins

60 West 55th Street
New York, NY 10019
(646) 943-7373

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