I am a lover of good bread and really feel that for crusty French rolls of various types the Longchamps bakers do an excellent commercial job. The same is true of a majority of their pastries.
In the liquor department, Longchamps, while not spilling over as in former years, still give you a hearty drink, and their selection of brands is amazing. There you will find many of the rarer Scotches and almost any kind of imported gin, as well as some of the more difficult-to-locate bonded bourbons.
Many people feel that Longchamps is hardly the place to find a good wine card, but if you ask to see it, you will really be surprised. It is not the extensive selection that one finds at Twenty One or the Brussels, but it certainly has been chosen with an eye to presenting some distinguished wines, both American and European. It is a clever card in that the various wine districts of France and California are well illustrated, and you may literally pick your wine from its location on the map.
Prices, too, I found agreeable, and this is particularly true of the champagnes. Ten dollars for some of the best 37's is not an exorbitant price.
We needn't tell you that there are Longchamps restaurants spread all over New York, but we might remind those of you who will be in New York this summer that you may go to the restaurant at Madison Avenue and 59th Street at any time of the day or night, for their doors are open around the clock. Prices are fairly moderate and portions ample. If you are searching for celebrities, you will find a sprinkling of them here or there at all times. If you are a woman alone, you may go at any time and feel perfectly comfortable.
Our soap-box oration this month is a plea to certain restaurateurs to improve the quality of their vegetables. It is a shame to serve a well-cooked dish, freshly prepared and hot as the stove itself, accompanied by indifferent vegetables. In France, vegetables are considered important enough for a main course, but here, where two vegetables are considered a necessary accompaniment to any plat du jour, they are too often watery and overcooked or have been occupying the steam table much too long. Won't some restaurateurs taste the vegetables they serve to find out for themselves if they need to be treated with a little more kindness?
We keep hearing about this little bistro and that little spot which is so Continental that we have ceased to believe in anyone's judgment about such things, as we have too often traveled half way across town only to find rather mediocre food, badly prepared, and a minimum of service in depressing surroundings. Fortunately, however, there are many little restaurants and bistros which have all the distinction of a great restaurant. Such a place is the Chalet Suisse, where I have seldom been disappointed.
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