Rochester, NYFrench

A family-run French kitchen and absinthe bar in the Park Avenue district. CITY Magazine's Chris Lindstrom worked through escargot, a nicoise salad, an Alsatian tarte flambee and a Provencal bouillabaisse whose seafood came out perfectly cooked, and found the chicken tagine fall-off-the-bone tender. He also judged the absinthe list beyond anything else in Rochester, from Vieux Pontarlier to St. George Verte, poured four different dilution styles. CITY's later staff picks gave the fries an award of their own. Order the bouillabaisse or the chicken tagine, an absinthe service, and the fries.

A small room inside the Rochester Public Market, run by chef Dan Martello with Chuck Cerankosky. The Democrat and Chronicle's Tracy Schuhmacher wrote that walking in is like stepping into a chic French eatery, over a menu of seasonal French farm cooking that runs rillette and pate through coq au vin, steak frites and beef bourguignon. She rated the cocktails always impeccable and called the Sunday brunch fabulous, noting it strays past French influences. Order the steak frites, with a rillette or pate to start, or come Sunday for brunch.

Chef Christopher Woods grew up in Fairport, fell for French cooking while living in Napa, trained at the Culinary Institute of America and cooked at The Girl & The Fig before opening this Empire Boulevard room in Webster. CITY Magazine's Mary Rice describes a casual French-American bistro built on rustic classics: cassoulet layered with pork belly, duck confit, house-made sausage, white beans and bread crumbs, plus croque monsieur, bouillabaisse, quiche Lorraine and mussels. She found the braised pork belly impossibly tender and the duck confit falling off the bone. Order several plates for the table, starting with the cassoulet.