Parc

Like Balthazar in NYC, Parc is that wonderful restaurant that serves as a great choice for any meal. Modeled after a French bistro, authentic design elements like antique brass fixtures and vintage framed artwork were imported directly from Europe. Red leather banquettes topped with frosted glass provide a sense of intimacy. French doors open to the sidewalk where tables afford wonderful people watching. This is the kind of place that you could easily linger after your meal to enjoy just one more glass of wine.

The food is wonderfully prepared and served by a staff that clearly enjoys what they are doing. At breakfast you can enjoy freshly baked breads and croissants, an omelette with
fine herbs, gruyère and more. For lunch, perhaps Onion Soup Gratinee, Moules Frites, with white wine, shallots and garlic. In the afternoon enjoy a cheese and charcuterie platter and at dinner maybe Roast Chicken, Steak Frites or Trout Almondine.

Excellent and modestly priced wine list. With cheese, oysters and other snacks to compliment the wine list, this is a great place to stop at the end of the day before heading back to your hotel before dinner.

ROMANTIC QUOTIENT
On a warm summer night or a crisp Fall evening, sitting at an outside table looking on Rittenhouse Square is a pretty romantic evening.

WHAT OTHERS SAY…
Stephen Starr “out-bistros most Parisian bistros” with this “très jolie” “people-watching” perch, where those lucky enough to nab an “outside table facing Rittenhouse Square” feel “transported” to the “Champs-Élysées” (but “without the smoking”); inside, the “happening scene” can reach “daunting noise levels”, but given the “first-rate” French classics – from “sophisticated brunches and lazy lunches to fancy dinners” – and “polished” service, to most it’s a “delightful experience” all the same. ZAGAT