Bastille Day Parties
Even if you can't be in France on July 14, you can celebrate Bastille Day at these restaurants.
ATLANTA
Brasserie Le Coze
(3393 Peachtree Rd., Lenox Square Mall; 404-266-1440). A French singer-accordionist plays Parisian street music during the Bastille Day fete.
BERKELEY
Chez Panisse
(1517 Shattuck Ave.; 510-548-5072). Bastille Day comes at the peak of the garlic harvest, so chef Alice Waters tries to use garlic in every appetizer and main course. Look for blue-white-and-red desserts (the colors of the French flag), such as blueberry compote with white-nectarine ice cream and plum sherbet.
WASHINGTON,D.C.
Citronelle at The Latham Hotel
(3000 M St. N.W.; 202-625-2150). Chef Michel Richard offers a prix fixe menu of dishes that were popular around the time of the French Revolution, like squab Bastille, served with a bitter-orange sauce and haystack potatoes, and egg salad Antoinette, flavored with salt cod.
BOSTON
Hamersley's Bistro
(553 Tremont St.; 617-423-2700). Chef Gordon Hamersley features a tasting menu of French classics, like onion soup and blanquette de veau, a creamy veal stew.
NEW YORK CITY
Provence
(38 MacDougal St.; 212-475-7500). This SoHo restaurant trucks in enough sand to set up 10 boules courts. At dinner staff members dress up like revolutionary figures, and guests must put their heads under the ice guillotine before entering the restaurant.