Nice Matin

Hardly a magnet for high-stakes drama, Nice Matin is nevertheless the kind of Upper West Side platonic ideal where at any given moment a scene from a back-in-the-day Meg Ryan rom-com could play out — such a delicious respite from the neighborhood’s sometimes theme-park, multilevel, homogenize-the-world mochaccino land. The menu’s heartstring-plucking Gallic charms strike a popular chord with an impressive array of Riviera-inspired hors d’oeuvre like escargot, fava hummus, tuna tartare, pissaladière, and panisses, and continues the bold, garlic-imbued theme with soupe au pistou, moules Provençal, and veal escalopes. Here, at the birthplace of the Five Napkin Burger that would go on to launch its own chain, you can still order it off-menu. Monday is a corkage-free BYOB night favored by sommeliers and folks in the industry.