Le Garage

Rachel Allswang trades a career in interior design for the family business, joining forces with her acclaimed Parisian cuisinière mother, Catherine, for this Bushwick bistro. The project also serves as the New York debut for the prolific French chef, whose extensive 30-year restaurant portfolio includes La Laiterie Sainte Clotilde and Chez Graff in Paris, and Le Mistral and South Park Café in San Francisco. While Rachel calls on her visual finesse to rework the old garage (hence the name) with an all-windowed door, concrete floors and burnt orange midcentury banquettes, mom turns out a mix of family recipes and dishes inspired by best-ofs from her various restaurants, including snail-stuffed confit potatoes, braised pork shoulder au lait and glazed flounder in sorrel sauce. An industrial, honeycomb-shaped bar at the center of the restaurant is stocked with European wines, locally crafted beers and a short list of cocktails that center on oft-overlooked aperitifs, like a sparkling-wine-based Esmerelda with cassis-thyme tincture, lime juice and orange bitters, and a smoky Cosette, poured on the rocks with mescal, pineau des charentes and white tea tincture.