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This venue is closed.

City Island may be part of the Bronx, but Le Refuge Inn is not the place to sport your Yankees garb. Carefully dressed diners—many celebrating birthdays and anniversaries—find their way from all over the metro area to this French restaurant and B&B. It's set in a porticoed, 1876-vintage Victorian home whose dainty gold and ivory parlor is now a primly curtained main dining room; more robust tastes may prefer the wine-colored, bistro-like rear space, or front wooden deck. The menu, a three-course prix-fixe that covers tea-parlor and brasserie sensibilities, is masterminded by owner-chef Pierre Saint-Denis, a Normandy native who nonetheless shows confident restraint with the butter. Among the appealing openers are a delicate chevre-topped salad, a hefty sautéed crabcake, and dumpling-like lobster ravioli drizzled with saffron. Entrees range from a classic pan-fried trout to heartily sauced, expertly grilled meats—duck breast with nicely crisped skin, flavorful but not gamy lamb chops, and supple filet mignon au poivre. Service is leisurely, the better to savor a special occasion. — Karen Tina Harrison

Escargots; crab cake; roast duck; filet mignon