Went to Cure WAY too early for dinner at a French restaurant, but still loved the ambience. My daughter had been there many times early in the morning when it is still Java coffee and didn't realize it transmogrified into Cure in the evening. Cool. Having lived in France for a few years I look for French service - which Americans call slow, but I think of as relaxing. You would NEVER have a main dish set down before you'd finished your appetizer in France, and I don't think you would at Cure.
So, the meal: Great house Bourgogne Blanc. Didn't want to drink much, but I could easily have had one or three glasses more.
Steak Frite: my son's was probably the best looking steak I've seen in town. Great fries too. Can't say it was a ""French" steak - it was too thick and juicy - but if you talk to well-traveled French folk, they bow to US steaks. Steaks in France are really designed to hold sauce, and steak Frite rarely has sauce. It was great in any event. Overpriced.
Moules frites: also great. Not overly traditional (I prefer Roux's) but very good. No complaints. Really, if I'd ordered them they would be gone quickly.
My wife had a salad, frisee, figs, etc. etc. Looked great - but not my cup of greens. She said it was good, and anything negative about it was personal preference, not a statement on the dish.
Me: fried anchovies. Good, not great. Seemed almost like fried canned anchovies, given the saltiness, but I won't complain.
Cassoulet: really mediocre. Great duck confit, passable sausage, but the beans had that thick consistency As when they are reheated, and there was a thick later of breadcrumbs on top that was simply unnecessary, and contributed to the dryness. I LOVE cassoulet, make it myself, and always bring cans of it back from France (it is by far the best canned food in existence), but this was just not worthy. I have to say cassoulet seems to be really hit or miss in the states, as if we are striving to create something we haven't ever really had. But this wasn't it. Oh well. I'm going to Montpellier in two weeks, just down the road from Castelnaudary, the home of cassoulet, so I'll have my fill of the real thing, and won't complain anymore. I'm just happy there are places that are trying!
Would I go back? Absolutely. Affordable, enjoyable, and good.
Ok, the one thing that bugged me: they are next door to flour city bakery. They sell, as an extra, rather than simply set out, which I can accept, sliced FC bread ( with another additional charge for their great house-churned butter). But order it and they bring out four little pieces of toast. Toast is great when appropriate - say, for paté. But as an accompaniment? Never in France, and as I sat there looking back at the rack of round loaves in the kitchen and just dieing for a big chunk of fresh bread that I could spread that great butter on, I kept thinking why? Why not highlight this? This bread can hold its own anywhere. My daughter pointed out the menu said toast, but it said "bread" by the cassoulet. I'm still wishing I had a big piece of it. read more