"I love French food - I love the history of cuisine itself," Tomaska says. "I think that's why I've always latched on to it throughout my career. France's ingredients are very relatable to here in the Midwest."
Having opened in 1986, it is one of the enduring icons of New York's bistros--now being mimicked by newcomers like Chez Nous, Le Veau d'Or and Chez Fifi. It has a crowd as faithful and returning as any restaurant's in New York, and the clientele dresses well (more on that later) and seems to have, in Scott Fitzgerald's words, "voices full of money." The faithful call it "Bilbo," as they once called '21' Club "the Numbers" and Le Cirque "the Circus."