La Maison Mère (CLOSED)

If you somehow managed to miss La Maison Mère throughout the media frenzy around its opening in January 2011, it’s time to get up to speed. First, forget any ideas of a traditional French kitchen: it’s more Mom than Mère. Embrace, instead, the New York-esque décor, with its white tiles, vintage furniture, enamelled mirrors, lamps disguised as bowler hats and a sign declaring: ‘In food we trust’.

The menu is much what you’d expect given the setting, but the management has added a few dashing bourgeois touches. Leek vinaigrette, eggs ‘mimosa’, bone marrow sandwiches, grilled cockerel and chocolate mousse all appear alongside a variety of dishes directly imported from the Yankees – crab cake, Brooklyn platters, Long Island platters and so on. The five burgers (which range in price from €15 to €20) will delight enthusiasts, be it a breaded cod burger or the Black Label with its thick-cut Black Angus steak. The cooking is perfect, and if the sides are a little lacklustre, it’s only so as not to distract from the main event.

Pride of place is given to T-bone steak and caramelized pork ribs, Bavarian prime rib, Black Angus striploin and Charolais tartare. Phwoar. The house fries could have been better and the whole doesn’t come cheap, but nobody’s perfect. Friendly service, a nice wine selection and top cheesecake all go a long way towards sweetening the bill.