?> {"id":5430,"date":"2011-08-20T19:50:34","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T23:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/?p=5430"},"modified":"2011-08-20T19:50:34","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T23:50:34","slug":"lexpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twofatbellies.com\/2011\/08\/lexpress\/","title":{"rendered":"L’Express"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n Josh and I were recently in the Union Square area because we were looking for some hiking backpacks at Paragon Sports. For my 30th birthday, Josh got me a 3-day hiking trip over Labor Day weekend in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, since I’ve always expressed interest in climbing Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeast. We decided to get brunch before trying on all the different packs, and I suggested going to L’Express because I had read that they serve a really great croque monsieur.<\/p>\n L’Express has a French bistro vibe to it, with mirrors on the walls and lots of dark wood paneling, but it’s a massive restaurant. It’s owned by the same people who own Nizza<\/a>, Five Napkin Burger, Marseille, etc., and I tend to find these restaurants to be just a bit commercial in appearance. Nevertheless, I love the food at Nizza so I had high hopes for L’Express. It was fairly late for brunch so the restaurant wasn’t crowded, and we were seated immediately.<\/p>\n Josh and I decided to split the croque monsieur and the merguez sandwich. Our food came quickly, and everything was piping hot. The croque monsieur looked gorgeous, with a cheesy top that was perfectly browned.<\/p>\n