The menu has a few French standbys, including steak frites with a peppercorn sauce ($18), as good as any at other modest local bistros.

ATMOSPHERE - Gleaming walnut tables, a black marble bar and barn boards on the ceiling create an understated, offbeat elegance for this modest bistro.

She didn't smoke and never drank, preferring to spend her free time reading, watching television, visiting friends or going out for supper in modest bistros.

It was pleasant enough, but outside of the dining room, I felt as if I could have been eating at any of dozens of modest bistros around the city.

Supper clubs, sprawling American grills, Cal-Asian hybrids, haute vegetarian, modest bistros - all can be found in this compact, vertical city.

But several years later, in a modest French bistro in New York City, I made the startling discovery of roast lamb served pink.

The day of the dinner, there's a phone call, changing the expensive restaurant to a modest bistro - "it's great fun and has wonderful food."

Ramsey led Victoria to a modest bistro where four outdoor tables were being set up by a waiter.

Today, even modest bistros often print a separate dessert menu with the name of the pastry chef displayed prominently, and in most cases the desserts merit the attention.

But the Italian influence is no longer limited to dishes served in modest bistros in the south of France.