Since I'm going to be doing some more food writing in the coming months, I thought I might start an occasional feature on the blog of writing about good meals I've had between reviews. I was lucky enough to be dining with my photographer/girlfriend Wendy Ploger when I ate brunch at Flea Market, which on the surface seems like any number of tiny French bistros that line the streets of Manhattan. 

I don't think anyone goes to a bistro expecting to be introduced to the future of food, a la foams, cooking in plastic bags, Parcojets, or any of the other exotic kitchen devices and techniques that have gained currency in recent years. No, what you expect is to enjoy the original culinary revolution: the techniques, precision and combination of ingredients that brought the French to global preeminence and made the name The French Laundry a perfect one for Thomas Keller's more modern culinary revolution.

 

 

 

What you're seeing in the picture above is what the Flea Market does well. The place has a cute feel, good music, and a slammin' brunch Croque Madame. The Croque ("munch") is nothing more than a good piece of French bread with a slice of ham, some Gruyere cheese and bechamel sauce, heated and grilled so that it gets all gooey and perfectly melted. It's then topped, as shown, with a poached egg. Do you know how easy it is to make a bad one of these?

I've had some real stinkers. Hard (not runny) yolk. Bad cheese. Unmelted cheese. Cold cheese. Icky ham. Stale bread. Old sauce. If it's not all perfect, it's not worth eating. So to make it as good as Flea Market does, and to pair it with a lightly dressed mesclun, as above, that makes use of the sauce and egg yolk as a de facto second dressing, shows that not only can someone in the kitchen make a Croque Madame, they understand the thinking behind it and why the ingredients are prepared the way they are. It shows competency and appreciation for the old ways. It complements the atmosphere of Flea Market, where you feel you might actually be in a bistro somewhere on the Left Bank. It's food that doesn't know how artful it is, even as it outclasses so many other pedestrian meals.

Lichee foams and thyme sorbets are great, but for my money, nothing beats a perfectly poached egg. Flea market, on Avenue A right across from Tompkins Square Park, is a place I'd recommend to those who agree. The service is fine, the wine list works, and the price is right. It probably won't change your world, but then again, if you've never experienced a great duck confit, it just might.