Cafe Cluny, the new French-American bistro, is so West Village: the quaint corner lot at an intersection no one can find without looking at a map; the low tin ceilings; the tables packed tighter than sardines; the short and uncomplicated menu.
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Cafe Cluny is the latest addition to the West Village on the corner of West 4th and West 12th. I always liked that West 4th crossed over West 12th. Says something about the West Village. The owners of the Odeon, Lynn Wagenknecht, Judi Wong & Steven Abramowitz, are the people behind this neighborhood bistro.
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I will return to Café Cluny. I will return because I liked the food. It’s solid bistro fare— simple and approachable, but articulate and refined. I will also return because I liked the vibe—effortlessly, elegantly hip. None of this trying too hard stuff. But most of all I will return to Café Cluny for the lighting. I want to live in this lighting forever. I tell you, it’s miraculous. I fell in love with myself.
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Cozy is the new black this fall as far as restaurants are concerned. While last spring was marked by an invasion of Asian mega-restaurants the size of airplane hangars, New Yorkers fled in droves to The Little Owl, a refreshingly intimate nook, which snuck onto the West Village scene amidst the seige. While restaurants of this magnitude don't usually merit a New York Times review, Frank Bruni stamped two stars of approval on The Little Owl "that could", paving the way for an influx of intimate cafes trying their luck at the corner bistro game. Snagging an attractive West 4th street corner location, the team behind Odeon (Lynn Wagenknecht, Judi Wong & Steven Abramowitz), have partnered up once again to open a charming French-American cafe. As if it's been around forever, Cafe Cluny has a decidedly worn-in feel. Divided into two cream-colored dining rooms, the space is warmly accented with beige wood floors, tin ceilings and farm tables. Eccentric bird diaramas and sketches of restaurateurs line the walls, giving it a quirky personality that sets it apart from its West Village neighbors.
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It takes nerves of steel to decorate your restaurant with a three foot cockroach. To be fair, I am not sure it is a cockroach or that it is carved from driftwood, but that’s how it looked to me suspended from the ceiling in the back corner of Café Cluny, the new little French place in the West Village serving straightforward bistro food. I am sure you are asking, “the West Village needed a new small restaurant serving French bistro food, how will it stand out?” Well, besides the three foot driftwood cockroach, a serious collection of sketches of flora and fauna, and a strikingly good portrait of a young Jonathan Waxman in pencil, it has a stupendous appetizer.
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