On our way to the playground on the northern end of Madison Square Park, we bumped into the bubble man entertaining kids with his giant bubbles. He did so by both enclosing families in large bubbles and giving kids ropes connected to two sticks for them to dip into his soapy water bucket to produce free-floating ones.
We headed to L’Express, a French bistro on Park Avenue South at the corner of 20th Street after my granddaughter made new friends at the playground. I had my usual warm chèvre salad ($16) missing the traditional tomato confit and black olives. This time they offered the warm goat cheese atop crisp toasts. It was fine, just not as good as usual.
My daughter-in-law enjoyed their traditional French onion soup ($12), saying it was even better than the last bowlful she had when they lived in Paris. That onion soup gratinée came topped with Swiss cheese and bread, cooked until crisp ($12).
The croque madame ($19) — the ham and cheese sandwich topped with bechamel and broiled before being topped with a fried egg — came with French fries and a salad. The difference between the croque (which means “bite” in French) madame and monsieur is that the egg tops the former and in the latter is used for dipping the sandwich before being cooked, French toast-style.
L’Express
Gramercy-Flatiron
249 Park Avenue South
New York, NY
212.254.5858
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