Walking around downtown New York, you can spot a Lucien customer from afar. They’ll look suspiciously French, will likely be smoking a cigarette, and might be wearing a beret over their disheveled hair. This small French bistro on 1st Street and 1st Avenue is as much about people watching as it is about red wine, steak frites, and dirty vodka martinis. Tables often pile over each other (be prepared for a long wait), and on Thursday and Friday nights people stay for hours, alternating cocktails with cigarette breaks. Though the food is good, the restaurant is more about the ambiance than what’s on the menu. As any patron there knows, either you go all the time, or you don’t go at all. —Elena Clavarino

Elena Clavarino is the Senior Editor for AIR MAIL