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If you've got to go bistro, then don't hold back. Bring out the leather banquettes, the petulant waiters who smile only when you've conceded that they know what's best for you, and a kitchen that doesn't screw around with the classics. It's a rare bistro that respects dishes like warm potato salad with goat cheese and mussels in white wine with shallots for what they are instead of trying to give them superficial makeovers. Park Bistro is seventeen years old, but it recalls a time even further back when one of the functions of dining out was to put yourself in someone else's sure hands. Oh, and the waiter smiles when he says "brûlée." You will too, if you know what's good for you. — Hal Rubenstein

Lunch, three-courses, $33