Paris Commune (CLOSED)

Paris Commune upsized to a bigger space in 2004, and the updated dining room is a lovely mix of city chic and bistro charm: atomic starburst chandeliers, leather banquettes and wall ledges that hold clusters of black-and-white photos. The menu is stocked with satisfying, if not entirely original, bistro standards: At least four entrées, including the special, arrived with the same mashed potatoes and braised baby vegetables. Pork tenderloin is dressed in a pungent, cornichon-studded red-wine sauce. Filet mignon is dressed in a red-wine syrup that veers dangerously close to dessert territory, balanced by the salty funk of Gorgonzola cheese. The kitchen oddly seemed befuddled by eggs—frisée aux lardons was topped with a sadly overcooked poached egg—but regained its footing for dessert: a dark, intense pot de chocolat.