DISH OF THE WEEK: Flatbread at DIRTY FRENCH

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

Prices at New York restaurants are getting out of control. I understand there a lot of factors to this (rent hikes, food costs, aggressive PR), but it’s getting to the point where I laugh in shock every time I open a menu.

At Dirty French, it’s so hip and expensive that the prices aren’t even posted on their online menu. This is one of the more recent openings in the Torrisi-Carbone powerhouse and they focus on classic French brasserie food. I haven’t made it to Santina yet and have not been able to save up enough to check out Carbone. But I am a fan of the food at the more affordable Parm, so I thought a lunch excursion to Dirty French was in order.

I ordered a very good, but unbelievably priced $23 French Dip sandwich. Sure, the ingredients were fresh, including slices of house-roasted roast beef, a delicate horseradish créme fraîche horseradish, and a slurp-worthy beef aus jus. No question it was a good sandwich, but still, it was $23.

It didn’t come with fries, but it did come with their much-buzzed about flatbread. In fact, every order comes with the flatbread. Because unlike the high-priced menu items, the flatbread is completely free.

And ironically enough, this is something I would have paid for. The grilled flatbread reminded me of Indian naan or chapati bread spiced with fragrant herbs. The warm, soft, buttery dough did not need the extra schmear of olive-oil licked fromage blanc, but it certainly didn’t hurt. I was dining alone so thankfully didn’t need to be polite and share this with anybody else at the table. It was all mine.

So who says nothing in life is free? This wonderful bread basket substitute is – as long as you spend some hard-earned cash on something else at Dirty French.