Impersonal storefronts, traffic, and noise are characteristic on this block of West 14th Street. But look carefully and you'll find a cozy, authentic French restaurant that’s easy on the wallet. Jeanne & Gaston is one of those little gems of a restaurant that you want to tell everyone about but keep to yourself at the same time.
The man at the helm of Jeanne & Gaston is Claude Godard, a third-generation chef who hails from Burgundy. Over a decade ago he fell in love with the city’s energy and moved to New York to open Madison Bistro. Its sister restaurant, Jeanne & Gaston, just over a year old, seeks to make authentic French cuisine accessible—and affordable.
His cuisine is inspired by the classics of France, with a bit of nouvelle cuisine for a lighter touch, but the restaurant is also the namesake of his grandparents, Gaston and Jeanne, names as French and homey as French names could ever be. And so while the technique is exacting and precise, the spirit is all about comfort. Chef Godard wants guests to have a good time and be able to choose from different dishes that suit their taste without having to “study the menu for three hours with your gastronomical dictionary,” he says.
Although you can order a la carte, the prix-fixe options offer incredible value: there’s a $29 prix fixe dinner (for three courses), a $40 prix fixe dinner (for three courses chosen a la carte); and a prix fixe lunch starting at $21 (for two courses).
