French Bistro La Mediterranée - original French cuisine and wines in Midtown Manhattan

I live at the 26th Street flea market. Janet West is the dealer I love. She's almost like a curator. She sells ephemera, which I use in my collages, and Dream Boxes-fish lures ($3), dice ($2), a heap of black-and-white photographs I ($18), blonde "Marilyn" hair ($25). I used some in a piece called "Marilyn and me and a few others:" The way it's styled, it looks like you're looking at her from the back. We were friends. But she was very elusive-one would never make dates, you know. We'd see each other at parties.
What I'm really always looking for at the market are baby dolls ($50). They have to have a certain look, like they need attention. read more >>

Ernesto Morel's more than 25 years as proprietor of La Mediterranée began when he stopped in at the establishment in the spring of 1980 and asked if he could buy a drink at the bar. "Not only can you buy a drink, you can buy the whole restaurant." Ernesto recalls the owner of the then-struggling bistro replying.Fresh from a five-year stint as the maitre d' at La Mangeoire, Ernesto did just that. He refurbished the space, commissioned handsome murals of the South of France; hired a chef specializing in Provencal cuisine: and within months La Mediterranec had become the popular neighborhood eatery that it remains today.Many loyal customers go back to La Mediterranée's first days. read more >>

LA Mediterranée : The staff here knows why they were hired - to feed you well and make you comfortable.Various bits of French - Kitsch decorate the small room, and make-believe windows with make-believe Mediterranean views bring in the sun even on a blustery day. read more >>

A loyal neighborhood clientele, peppered with celebrities (on our visit Gloria Vanderbilt and son, CNN-anchor, Anderson Cooper, were in the front room) keep this friendly neighborhood hopping. The ambience is fresh and full of kitsch with trompe l'oeil windows opening onto views of the Mediterranean, tile floors, white stucco walls, hanging Moroccan lanterns and lovely fresh flowers. A tinkling piano in the bar-area and pleasant service, led by owner, Ernesto Morel, complete the background scene. Order carefully and you will have some good food. That means skipping the mundane appetizers (unless you are taking the bargain $22 "Early Bird" menu). Smoked trout tastes of only smoke. Prosciutto and melon is a generous portion; the melon is perfect, but the ham is salty. Entrees, on the other hand, can be delicious, if you opt for a first rate steak au poivre with excellent read more >>

WHAT'S A GOOD French restaurant in midtown?" is the question I am most often asked. "What price range?" is the way I always answer it "Moderately priced," comes the inevitable reply. Which forces me to ask 3 yet another question : "What do you mean by moderate?" ' Amounts from $10 to $25 are cited, but if moderate means a price somewhere between the least expensive and the most expensive, here is the shocking, late 1983 Manhattan reality;
The most expensive restaurants - French or otherwise - can easily cost $100 a person, with wine of course, but only possibly tax and tip. For example, The Quilted Giraffe - a chef-owned nouvelle cuisine boite, where, as one wag put it, "if you want read more >>

La Mediterranée, conveniently located for business lunches at 947 2nd Ave. at 50th Street, is that cozy, intimate French bistro you've been looking for.
It's a favorite haunt of Cindy Adams, Dick Clark, Steven Sondheim and Hope Lang. Even Katherine Hepburn, who lives nearby, has been known to slip in from time to time.
Argentine-born owner Ernesto Morel strives for an international flavor in this rustic, romantic bistro setting. Dark .    read more >>

It will never make anybody tan's 10 chicquest restaurants, nor will you see it mentioned in the society columns accompanied by photographs of insouciant celebrities clinking glasses and pecking cheeks. La Mediterranée,on Second Avenue at 50th Street is about as voguish as spats - but considerably more comfortable. Quite simply, it is a wonderfully homey and neighborly spot that gives you a warm feeling upon entering- all timber and stucco with faux wooden shutters, colorful murals of France and comfortable banquettes. read more >>