Zucco: Le French Diner

The name Zucco refers both to this tiny candlelit restaurant and to the charismatic original proprietor, who once acted as server, bartender, host and busboy. The menu is modeled after truck stops in France—making it a cheap and simple meat-and-potatoes place. Only here, the potatoes arrive as a Gruyère-topped gratin. If you want meat, the Angus shell steak, crowned with creamy peppercorn sauce, is remarkably tender. Order a bottle of wine and you’ll find that the itsy-bitsy Parisian wineglasses are—like everything else here—endearing