YEARS AGO WE WERE ON vacation in Paris when my wife was called home for a family emergency. I found myself alone with our three tween girls and no agenda. Over the next few days, we became regulars at the boisterous brasserie around the corner from our hotel. Good move. The adventurous child tried her first foie gras, the carnivorous one ate steak frites, and the picky one ordered baguette cheese sandwiches. I ran through the classics, from warm herring and potatoes to choucroute garnie.
Such are the pleasures of brasserie dining, where you can splurge, make do with a sandwich, or revisit an old fave. At a brasserie, there will be white table-cloths, porcelain plates, servers in long aprons lashing through the dining room with overburdened trays held aloft. A good brasserie promises to do it all correctly, and when it
