Fanny

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A French Fantasy Comes True 15th May 2007

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In my very active fantasy life, there was a small French bistro in my neighborhood where the owners knew me by name, where I'd drop by after work, loosen my tie (yes, apparently I wear a tie in my fantasy life), have a glass of red wine and dine on the chef's whimsical special of the day. Oddly enough, it took moving to the middle of an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn where Tony Soprano would feel right at home to make this all come true.

Started by two expats from southern France and lovingly named for actress Fanny Ardant, Fanny is a low-key, unpretentious place offering worthwhile twists on traditional bistro classics such as monkfish provencal served in a hearty earthernware pot, steak with extra crispy frites, and a simple roast chicken. The menu is small -- but what Fanny does it does exceedingly well. The dessert of Lavender blanc mange is something of a local legend, and deservedly so -- a creamy, fragrant Tour de France for the palate.

The room avoids the usual French bistro clichés (no framed vintage posters! no ornate mirrors!), managing to be stylish without being over-styled. The most striking feature are the clear, hanging filament lightbulbs decorating the main front room – lighting that's guaranteed to make even a meal with your mother-in-law feel romantic. The only drawbacks to Fanny are the cash-only policy -- which has triggered more than one emergency run to a cashpoint down the street -- and a menu that doesn't change quite often enough given the frequency of my visits. Oh, and lest I forget: Fanny is ridiculously cheap.

At any rate, it's nice to be able to say that once in a while fantasies do come true. Just don't expect to run into Tony and Carmella out on a date any time soon – the crowd is strictly Williamsburg hipster types.