In other parts of the country, French food might signify the old, the passé, the establishment that had to be overthrown. In New York, it still supplies fresh inspiration. At Frenchette , the chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson draw energy from the more forceful and blunt side of the cuisine, the organ-eating side. There are exemplary sweetbreads with a veal-crayfish reduction, buttered snails dropped into soft-scrambled eggs, a pink plank of guinea hen terrine, and so on. These things may be traditional, but they don’t come across that way. Setting the tone for the whole experience is the wine list, which assembles major and minor members of the natural-wine movement in France and abroad. These winemakers, like the chefs, follow ancient methods and concoct new ones where they have to.

241 West Broadway (North Moore Street); frenchettenyc.com.