A relic of Old New York, La Grenouille recaptures the glamour and indulgence of French classics.

New York is a city always turning over with trendy new culinary thoroughbreds, but La Grenouille is one of the last great warhorses.

While virtually all the sumptuous Gallic dining rooms of the postwar era (Le Pavillon, La Côte Basque, La Caravelle) have closed — victims of old age and changing fashions — this ageless doyenne, now in its forty-sixth year, merrily chugs along, owing largely to owner Charles Masson’s intimacy with his clients, the restaurant’s cosseting Old World service and an extraordinary menu that melds classic French fare with lighter, cross-cultural creations.

The celebrated main dining room sports red-velvet settees, gold damask walls and the most extravagant floral displays this side of the Rose Bowl (the restaurant spends $100,000 a year on the lavish arrangements).

Closing dinners — such as those recently held for PricewaterhouseCoopers, General Electric and IBM — are hosted upstairs in a 28-foot-high loft of whitewashed brick and burnished wood, with a large, marble-faced stone hearth and a “wine wall” holding 3,000 bottles, in addition to coolers storing another 1,000 (the jaw-dropping Bordeaux stash goes back to the restaurant’s opening).

In the 1930s and ’40s, the loft served as a studio for Bernard Lamotte, a French painter who also used it to entertain friends such as Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and his childhood friend Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

True to its heritage, La Grenouille prepares traditional French specialties such as quenelles de brochette and pot-au-feu, but at the same time heeds the calls for simpler fare, such as perfectly grilled Dover sole. Witness the following sample menu designed for an intimate closing dinner for 20 to celebrate a recent merger coup.

(1) Dariole of artichokes, white and green asparagus and morels (With a 2002 Domaine de Ladoucette, Baron de L)

Traditionally used in desserts, a dariole is a small, cylindrical mold that in this venerable French eatery’s preparation becomes an earthy springtime indulgence aromatic of the season’s first fresh morels. “The tart white wine from the Loire is an excellent match to the earthy morels,” Masson says. Salmon Pavé with Lentilles du Puy (With a 2005 Vosne-Romanée, Sylvain Cathiard) A French classic, this rich, warm salmon steak is paired with a soft, lush Burgundy to bring out the flavor without overwhelming it.

(2) Côte de Boeuf Rôtie en Salmis, aux Echalottes (With 1995 Château Palmer, Margaux)

“We wanted to serve a very flavorful meat dish to bring out the best in the big, rich ’95 Margaux,” ­Masson says, referring to this roasted beef with a port-wine sauce finished with foie gras.

(3) Poire Fondante au Saint Nectaire (With 2002 Château Rieussec, Sauternes)
Billed as a pre-dessert, this unconventional fondante, or “melting pear,” calls for poaching the fruit in ­Sauternes and stuffing it with Saint Nectaire, a silky white cheese from the Auvergne region of France. When roasted, the pear literally melts. La Bombe GlacÉe Grenouille (With Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Grand Siècle Champagne)

Who asked for the light dessert? This classic is ­confected of vanilla and praline ice creams and ­raspberry sorbet, all presented on an iced floral ­pedestal. And what’s a French dinner without a ­bonfire? The ice creams are served over macerated fruits flambéed in Kirsch.

This menu, including the cost of booking the room and all floral decorations, would be $300 per person with a 20-person minimum. Sales tax and 22 percent service charge is additional.

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