Le Grainne Cafe

183 Ninth Avenue

(between 21st and 22nd Streets)

www.legrainnecafe.com

On the weekend before Halloween, went for a Sunday brunch at Le Grainne Cafe, a cozy café that’s off the beaten path in Chelsea where you could fantasize that you’re dining somewhere in Europe.

Have been wanting to go for brunch there for years, but was always put off by the long lines and even longer wait times.

Helpful Hint: Arrive close to 2 p.m., when the brunch crowd has lessened considerably.

Menu offers extensive French bistro fare.

But instead of ordering my usual Croque Madame, we decided to share a bowl of their renowned moules. A bit wary of being experimental, we went for the more traditional marinières style—mussels in white wine, with a shallot, garlic, and fresh herb sauce. Good, but not enough sauce! Since the best part of having mussels is, of course, scooping up the sauce with bread or french fries. Alas, no fries were included with the dish, either.

So we decided to accompany the mussels with a salade de chevre—warm goat cheese croutons, tomatoes, walnuts, and grapes on a mesclun salad. A light and somewhat healthy option.

My dining companion decided to start with a bowl of their French onion soup. She assured me that it tasted as good as it looked.

I declined to sample, as I wanted to save room for dessert—the main attraction!

We topped off the meal with not one, but two (2!) desserts. After watching many of the other customers order crêpes, we knew that we too had to try one as well. We decided to go for the crêpes fruits frais—mixed fresh-cut fruit with strawberry sauce. Deliciously fresh and light!

And it was good that the crêpe was light, because for our other dessert we went for the crème brûlée à la lavande—homemade lavender crème brûlée. And, yes, you can actually taste the lavender!!!

As we were sharing two desserts, we of course had to also order some kind of coffee. I went for the café au lait, which arrived in a lovely bowl.

She ordered the espresso (perhaps it might have even been the double espresso).

It was the perfect ending to a French brunch that could have been enjoyed on a cold, autumn day in Paris.