Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte"

You've got to love a restaurant that has one main course and a dozen desserts -not to give the main course short shrift, of course! Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte", the newest outpost of a famous Parisian steakhouse, is now serving steak frites in NYC at a recession-friendly price of $24. For that price, you receive: some hunks of baguette (no butter - according to the server, the secret way to get butter is to order the cheese plate, which I did -but more on that later); a green salad with walnuts, its leaves well-coated with creamy mustard vinaigrette; and a plate of thickly sliced steak cooked according to your specifications (blue, rare, medium, well) drenched in a delicious "special" sauce (I thought I detected tarragon, wine and mustard, but the sauce is a well-kept secret) with a heap of short, crisp golden fries. If you find your plate too dainty, don't despair - your server will return mid-meal to deliver another portion of steak and fries!

Now for dessert. The wonderfully balanced cheese plate comes from Artisanal; the night I went, it consisted of camembert, gorgonzola, comte and goat cheese. There are also oodles of sweets - profiteroles, cherry tarts, peach Melba, sorbets, and desserts made with meringue or praline. I went with the moist chocolate-almond cake, which was garnished with a rosette of vanilla whipped cream.

If you hanker for a giant T-bone, this might not be the steakhouse for you. However, if you want a steak dinner that's both elegant and economical at the same time, head over to Le Relais de Venise before the lines start forming.

Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte": 590 Lexington Ave., (212) 758-3989. No reservations.