Chicken Roasted Sous Le Brique
LITTLE Frog is a Parisian bistro and bar that offers rigorously authentic French cuisine in a quiet neighborhood in New York City’s
Upper Eastside.
Owned by seasoned French restaurateur Monsieur Francois Latipe, Little Frog seats 75 in a chic white brick-walled space with classic French décor, in perfect harmony with green tufted banquettes, soft lighting and relaxing ambience.
A good-looking male model/bartender at the happy bar attracted our attention as we entered the bistro.
Monsieur Latipe claims he is an artist by heart and wanted to pursue art as a career but was prevailed upon by his parents back
in France to take up HRM in Ecole Hoteliere Avignon.
Now he conceptualizes and designs restaurants, not to mention his exquisite French cooking touch in his own restaurants.
He is the epitome of French savoir-faire and bonhomie with a great smile; and these I witnessed when he
welcomed Fashion Stylist Marlon Covera and I at his Little Frog Bistro & Bar.
Marlon must be pretty special since Francois was on his “day off” but came to his bistro just to meet us.
Glazed Pork Belly with French
Flageolets Beans,
Mustard Seeds
and Herb
Vinaigrette
His warm presence and “Hemingway,” a mocktail of orange splash, pineapple juice, and egg whites protein naturals with mint, sage and cucumber, welcomed us as we took our seats.
Very engaging with a crisp French accent, he recommended choices from his meaty bistro fare. For starters, we had Comté Fritters— delicately deep-fried golden balls of warm and soft chewy Comté cheese.
Comté is French cheese made from unpasteurized cow’s milk and aged between eight to 36 months in Franche-Comté region. Gruyére de Comté is a certified AOC (appellation origin) cheese since 1958.
From the menu’s Small Plates, Francois picked Glazed Pork Belly on a bed of French Flageolets Beans with mustard seeds and herb vinaigrette.
Flageolets bean is a variety of common beans from France.
While enjoying the tender but sinful slices of the tender pork belly, Francois recommended his entrees from the Butcher’s Choice: Steak Au Poivre with Black Pepper Corns and Brandy Sauce served with French Fries and Chicken Roasted Sous de Brique on a bed of creamy Pesto Mashed Potatoes and Chimichurri Persillade.
His Executive Chef, 32-year-old Xavier Monge from Mexico, is doing an excellent job in mastering the French cuisine to Francois’ strict standards.
The juicy Steak (Angus) was cooked medium rare with just the right amount of black pepper and brandy reduction sauce. The free-range chicken was deliciously tender, roasted to golden perfection in a brick oven.
The plump and deboned chicken breasts and thigh sat on a bed of creamy pesto mashed potato with Chimichurri Persillade.
Chimichurri is the mother sauce of Argentina, the South American version of French Persillade using finely minced parsley, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Persil is French for parsley.
The desserts were classic with that refined French touch.
The Thin Apple Tart baked à la minute with Crème Fraiche (soured cream) had the right tartness, sweetness of sliced apples.
The Floating Island is a dessert of French origin consisting of baked meringue floating on Crème Anglaise or light custard sauce.
The meringue was sprinkled with bits of crunchy caramelized sugar. Both sweet endings were simply delightful!