Forking Tasty

A quick lunch with Ant the other day landed us in Petite Abeille. I have had a love/hate relationship with this place ever since they resided on 18th and 6th. Old space or new digs, there is always one thing that has pissed me off about this place. Their coffee counter is a shit show. There is no established waiting line, there are lots of people behind the counter doing nothing OR doing everything but paying NO attention to you (the customer). Typically, when I finally get around to ordering I always feel like I have ordered something that no one else has ever asked for. I am usually met by a confused face and a frozen set of coffee making hands. When the coffee(usually what I order, simple right?) does get made, it is handed to me and the clerk (ohh sorry, barista) runs off. Now I am left with the problem of “who do I pay?”. Once I pay, I then need to go to the “fixings bar” located directly behind the register and right next to the front door. If someone is paying and someone is at the fixings bar, you can not open the front door to get in or out of the restaurant. How many people do you think pay, fix and come in during the morning coffee rush? Rhetorical, but I will wait until you finish rolling your eyes. All I am asking for is a simple change. Set up your store so people can get in and out. You stand there everyday and watch this cluster fuck. Are you that oblivious?

But, something has changed. Unfortunately, it is not the cluster I just ranted about. I have recently discovered that the front of the restaurants sting can be soothed by the back of the restaurants salve. That salve comes in the form of some fairly authentic french food. Although the restaurant is officially Belgian, it screams France. Specifically Provence. Preethi turned me on to this spot as a good breakfast meetup. Their omelets are light and fluffy, breads fresh and the coffee is…GREAT…which is why I would deal with the bullshit above trying to get a cup to go some mornings.

Based on the positive breakfast, and the fact that the mercury was hanging out at around 10, I decided to try it for lunch. (It is a half a block from my office.) I decided on the burger for it’s ability to give the restaurant a true test.

As you can see, that lil abeille did itself sore justice. Better than breakfast comes to mind. The burger, ordered medium rare, came done to perfection. Full of juice and on a fresh bun I was left with little to grip about. The lightly dressed side of greens cleaned up my palette and left me singing the praises of this new-on-the-list biz lunch spot. For all the bitter memories of the morning crunch, some delicious food has a way of erasing them all.

The picture above illustrates the “bottleneck vs the oasis” debacle that Petite Abeille struggles with daily. On the left is the to go counter. But, if you look towards the back(right side of the pic) you can see where the restaurant opens up into a full dining area. In the summer they even have an outdoor space. A rare back yard in this part of the city. When that mercury rises I will have to do a final test in the garden. For now, I think I will skip the take away coffee and sit for the full meal.

Petite Abeille
44 W 17th St.
NY‎C
(212) 727-2989‎
www.petiteabeille.com