Le Meating - Paris

French Steakhouse Fail
Back in grammar school, the unlucky ate the cafeteria food.  A few of us carried our lunch from home in a  brown bag.  Without imagination, I'd attack in order: first the carrot sticks or apples, then the sandwich and finally the dessert.  One day I noticed a kid who was eating his dessert first.  I asked him why.  He looked at me as if I'd asked to pee on his shoes.  "In case I get full, at least I've had my dessert!"  This kid was clearly brilliant - he probably grew up to be an astronaut.  At Meating, had I been able to start with dessert and go backwards, I would've been much happier.

Robert et Louise - Paris

Meat & Potatoes a la Francaise
Firewood? Check. Metal cooking slab? Check. Chunks of meat? Check. It's as simple as that folks - no need to overcomplicate it. At Robert & Louise, they keep it simple. If you're coming to Paris for a short visit, I would put this place near the top of the list. Where else do they cook your meat in a wood-burning fireplace out in the open, for all to see? You can hear the sizzle, no matter where you sit and it gets you staring into the fireplace, wondering "is that one mine?"

Ben and Jacks - Manhattan

Solitary Steak Ain't a Good Sign
In the go-go days of NY, you never would have found yourself alone in a steakhouse during Friday lunch. After a long wait to be seated, it would have been elbow to elbow combat and deafening table chatter. Fast forward to now: Ben and Jack's new location on Madison Ave between 28th and 29th. Same delicious steak you get from any good steakhouse minus the crowd. Matter of fact, it's downright scary how empty the place was.

La Bourse Ou La Vie - Paris

Old-School Steak-Frites in a Whimsical Setting
I simply love this place, where do I begin? The name, roughly translated, means "Your Money or Your Life." My French colleagues explained that the word "bourse" can mean stock market, purse and balls (yes, the sensitive type.) So, the name is a play on its location (it's a block away from the stock market here in Paris) and perhaps the owner's change of vocation from architect to restaurateur. He changed careers to focus on one thing: making steak-frites the way they're supposed to be made.