NEW YORK — Break out the berets and cut the baguettes — Bastille Day is Saturday, July 14.
New Yorkers caught sweating it out in New York City instead of sunning themselves by the Seine can still get into l'esprit.
At Brasserie Beaumarchais’s Bastille Day brunch at 409 West 13th Street, try your hand at the traditional French game of pétanque, a game similar to bocce, will be set up on the outside patio for guests to play.
For $30 you can snag a ticket to the Bastille Day Ball at The 404 at 404 10th Avenue at 7:30 p.m. The annual event is in its 88th year. The event is being co-hosted by the French Ambassador to the US, the French Ambassador to the UN and the French Consul General of New York.
The Upper East Side is hosting a Bastille Day party on 60th Street. The party, which runs from noon to 5 p.m. stretches from Fifth Avenue to Lexington, and will feature French-themed entertainment such as live accordion music and mimes.
Revelers in Brooklyn can head to Smith Street between Bergen and Pacific Street, where the street will be closed to traffic in favor of food, music and aperitifs. It's an excellent opportunity to sample the neighborhood bistros. The day’s festivities, which start at noon, will also feature a decade-old pétanque tournament.
But if you can’t wait until Saturday to start celebrating, the second annual French Restaurant Week kicked off on July 8, as part of Bastille Week. Over 50 participating restaurants around the city will offer a prix-fixe menu for $17.89 — the year the French Revolution began.
“Bastille festivities in New York rival celebrations in France,” said Severine Picquet, the founder of MPB Agency, the company that organizes the event, which is expected to draw thousands of New Yorkers. “Bastille Week unites those involved with creating French activities for the public’s pleasure. And what a perfect expression through food with French Restaurant Week.”
For a list of participating restaurants, visit www.frenchrestaurantweek.com.
