• Allegretti

  46 W. 22nd St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-206-0555

  “Bouillabaisse is from Marseille, but soupe de poisson belongs to Nice,” says Alain Allegretti, who would know. The Niçois chef cooked around the Côte d’Azur before decamping for New York, where he has established a beachhead for his native brand of coastal cooking. “I have the famous Mediterranean poissons des roches flown in especially,” he says, revealing the secret to the success of his deep-amber-hued soup, the thing responsible for its authentic aroma, texture, and rich flavor. The gastronomic ritual starts once the soup arrives: The traditional dried croutons, rubbed with oil and garlic and anointed with the garlic-and-saffron mayo called rouille, are placed in the soup, then finely grated Gruyère cheese is sprinkled over the top. “I make two versions of rouille, the authentic garlicky version and one mild,” says the chef. “So many diners found the garlic too strong.”

  See Also
  More Neighborhood Feasts From Adam Platt's Where to Eat 2009

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine