April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Sign of a recession: Alain Ducasse, who creates some of the world's most expensive food, is selling $1 appetizers in a room once occupied by a great Manhattan restaurant.

Welcome to Benoit. It's not just another Midtown bistro. It occupies a piece of history -- the former La Cote Basque space, one of the old purveyors of cream-and-mousseline cuisine.

So come for the history. Stay for the food. The opening-week fare yielded pleasures on par with Balthazar and Bar Boulud -- the city's best outposts for casual French.

Don't worry, there's cream at Benoit -- and a delicious bit of egg mayo: Half the egg is hard cooked, the other half deviled. On the side? More mayo. Cost? $1.

This is humble fare from a humbled Ducasse. It was just over a year ago that he closed his exorbitant restaurant at the Essex House. Michelin loved the venue. New York didn't. He returned to the city in January with Adour at the St. Regis hotel, a more affordably priced bastion of haute French. Now he brings us his Benoit chain (other locations in Paris and Tokyo).

The dining room is classic bistro. Tile floors. Wooden chairs. Mirrors everywhere. Bright colors -- red banquettes, brown wood walls. It's beautiful. It's cramped.

Sit in the bar room. It's more spacious. Looks different too: black and white striped walls, exposed filament light bulbs, a zinc bar. It's a kind of old that's very in vogue.

Roast chicken belongs in a photo shoot. You get the whole bird. Copper-skinned in a copper-bottomed pot. Lies on a bed of rosemary -- that's what perfumes the flesh. Makes the dining room smell like a pine tree. Dark meat falls off the bone; the juicy breast is a fowl filet mignon.

Sausage Fest

Eat cassoulet: duck confit (gamey), Toulouse sausage (garlicky), garlic sausage (extra garlicky), pork loin (meaty), all covered by a crust of white beans. Sound familiar? It's the La Cote Basque recipe. Outstanding.

Don't skip appetizers. Beef tartare has a better caper crunch than at Balthazar. A cocotte of vegetables sports Blue Hill-quality peas and carrots. They bathe in butter. Sexy.

Watch out for pitfalls. Foie gras confit had sinew. Pike quenelles tasted more like bread pudding.

Finish with the baba au rhum. The spirit-soaked cake gets a gentle alcohol sting, a luscious side of whipped cream.

Benoit is at 60 W. 55th St., near Sixth Avenue. Information: +1-646-943-7373. http://www.benoitny.com.

Part Deux

Ducasse knows he has competition. On Benoit's opening night, the New York Post's Page Six caught him dining at another new French spot: Brasserie Cognac. No need to worry, Alain. Benoit is better -- so far. And Cognac is a very different experience.

Expect thumping club music, a flat-screen television, fiery tableside flambes and bright flashing lights -- from police cars. Open windows flood Cognac with the theater district's energy -- a far cry from Benoit's newspaper racks and quiet jazz.

It's all courtesy of the Serafina Restaurant Group that runs a chain of serviceable Italian-joints throughout the city.

Avoid cocktails. The list reads like an advertisement for brand-name liquors. Grey Goose here. Patron Silver there. My libations were cloying and unbalanced. Drink brand-name wine instead. Veuve Clicquot is a steal at $15 per glass. The champagne is a perfect foil for gougeres -- except they're a scam at $8 for eight or so bland puffs (Gougeres are free at Benoit).

Florian Hugo, a Ducasse protege, is the chef. I'm told he's a direct descendant of Victor Hugo. If that's the case, his lineage reflects the ancient offerings.

Ever try blanquette de veau? Four and a half tiny, chewy chunks of meat for $26. How about vol-au-vent? Lobster and foie gras inside a puff pastry shell. The foie had a sour funk. Lobster flambeed in Cognac was overflambeed.

Beef

Steak tartare was under-salted, under-capered, rightly tangy. Chicken Paillard? Excellent. So white it looked like grilled mozzarella; frisee and lemon confit added a hint of bitter and sweet. Octopus tentacles will drag me back. The oceanic beast sopped up an addictive tomato-olive sauce.

Still hungry? Pass on the over-sugared lemon tart. Return to Benoit and get that baba.

Brasserie Cognac de Monsieur Ballon is at 1740 Broadway, near 55th Street. Information: +1-212-757-3600; http://www.cognacrestaurant.com/.

(Ryan Sutton is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 29, 2008 00:01 EDT