Profile

La Baraka is a Moroccan greeting that translates to "blessing and goodness," and making diners feel at home is La Baraka's forte. The happy buzz of regulars fills the room as owner Jean-Luc Sonigo, a Parisian via Algeria, table-hops tirelessly. Loyal patrons from northern Queens and Nassau have basked in his Gallic attention since 1979, and the setting has a retro element, with cottage-like white stucco walls, Art Nouveau posters and penguin-jacketed waiters, along with the mild distraction of an acoustical-tiled ceiling and overjuiced lamps. The menu is also old-fashioned to the point of nostalgia, featuring appetizers like quiche and onion soup and entrees like coquilles St. Jacques and duck à l'orange. The kitchen shows particular flair with meat: Hefty lamb chops are cooked precisely to order, and a satisfying couscous—one of the only signs of a North African influence—flaunts tender beef, chicken, lamb, merguez sausage and an earthy, house-made harissa pepper puree. At La Baraka, the neighborhood French restaurant lives on. — Karen Tina Harrison

Mon.—Sat., 5 p.m.—6:45 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.—6:15 p.m.

Lamb chops, $24.95; couscous dinner, $34.95