La Grenouille

.

or, dinner at the frog pond.
why is it the French is so right?

I arrived late.
My first cab driver stopped to have a conversation (not) with a biker-who unappetizingly spit in his face. I decided to exit the sweat box for another one. Did I mention it was HOT.
After a treacherous cab ride to la Grenouille, I tucked in to dinner and conversation with designer Maureen Footer and writer Emily Evans Eerdmans. Thank you- Maureen for making a plan only you could design.

I dined.
It was deliciously delectable-but I can hardly remember what I ate, so caught up was I in the atmosphere and the stellar company. The cuisine is not to be questioned.
I did not.

Special souffles- a caramel, a chocolate, a raspberry.

The flowers are absolutely to be gawked over.
I did.
Tall bowery green leaves with bunches of Casablanca lilies shaded below, their scale is heavenly.

the tiny lamps on the tables are perfection

Opening in December of 1962, during a snowstorm-but really how could I say it better than NEW YORK magazine-
I can't.
"With Lutece, La Cote Basque, and La Caravelle all six forks under, it's thrilling that La Grenouille thrives. Owner Charles Masson's youthful makeover leaves the once hoity-toity Frog Pond less forbidding. Floral exuberance still explodes in every corner, and, in the ultimate surrender to reality, the menu—mixing classic and new—is finally translated into English." — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

or from Reggie Darling here

& of course there has to be a book.
There is.
written by current owner Charles Masson, in 1994, and dedicated to his PAPA, who started the legendary restaurant and his flowers. The book is a must have, and all sorts of copies are still available.

the Masson mantra-

Bois de la vie~ drink life

We did.

 Renoir's La Grenouille, 1869

image from the links below~
La Grenouille here
read an in depth review here
the frog in depth here
the book here