Can This Buzzy Bistro Make the Upper East Side Cool?
Was that fair? No neighborhood is a monolith. But this one has long been equated with its most privileged residents — not the flaunt-it rich but the even richer, who have no need to. Like many affluent enclaves, it's not particularly hospitable to exciting restaurants. Much of the housing stock is too pricey, the clientele too assured of its own tastes (and perhaps reluctant to invite in the hordes).
Yet somehow Chez Fifi, a low-lit hideaway at the bottom of an Italianate rowhouse in the placid 70s, has managed to distract New Yorkers from downtown haunts and become one of the most lusted-after reservations. It's part of a new coterie of intimate, Parisian-styled bistros — like Le Chêne and Zimmi's in the West Village and Le Veau d'Or on the Upper East Side's southern edge — that seem to have bewitched the city.
Months after Chez Fifi opened last December, the calendar of availability was still grayed out, save for the stray 10:45 p.m. slot. When I finally secured a table at a less European hour, I was dubious. I do not like being a victim of mimetic desire, wanting what everyone wants.
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