Laura Hansen & Scott McCaughey

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Restaurants

If you’re staying in Long Island City (especially if you’re at The Ravel), here are a few local restaurants you might want to try:

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  Tournesol

  Tournesol is a French bistro about a mile from The Ravel. Rather than follow the example of countless Brooklyn-bound restaurateurs before him, Pascal Escriout, the former maître d’ at Artisanal and a neighborhood resident, opted to plug the steak-frites gap in his own backyard. The apparently famished neighborhood fills the 40-seat premises for gently priced fish soup, mussels, homemade foie gras terrine, and plats du jour like cassoulet and coq au vin.
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  Masso

  Masso is a little less than a mile from The Ravel. It’s an Italian restaurant and lounge, opened by Francine DiTomaso of Luca Lounge in the Village. She’s not just an LIC restaurateur, but a neighborhood resident. The menu features lots of salads, lasanga, and bruschetta with a few new French-inspired dishes. She’s adding a hanger steak, mussels with fries, and lamb chops served over greens. And though she’s come from Manhattan, she didn’t bring the city prices with her to Masso. Entrees are about $12-$15 each. Plus there are a few family-style platters that are a bargain.
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  Manducatis Rustica

  Manducatis Rustica, also under a mile from The Ravel, is three things: an Italian grocery and bakery with high-quality goods (not necessarily cheap, there is a directly imported olive oil for $45/bottle); a gelateria (gelato made on premises); and a restaurant, with an informal trattoria in the front, where the grocery is also located, and a more formal ristorante in the adjacent dining room. The cuisine is classic Italian country style (rustica, as the name says), with emphasis on simplicity and quality ingredients. Manducatis Rustica is run by Gianna Cerbone, the daughter of the Cerbone family, who’ve run Manducatis on Jackson Ave. since the 1970s. The menu is less extensive than at Manducatis on Jackson, and the emphasis is on a few daily specials–and pizza.
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  Court Square Diner

  Court Square Diner is a classic New York diner, open 24 hours day and less than a mile from The Ravel. This in not your ordinary, run of the mill diner. Their menu is filled with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees. If you’re craving it, chances are you’ll find it on the menu. They also bake all of their pastries, cakes and cookies on premises.