Food scholars have long puzzled over the etymology of the term brasserie. They began, apparently, as venues where beer was made, and the term came to encompass a certain kind of casual French diner, a place with mirrors and a zinc bar, featuring hearty, beer-friendly favorites like pig’s knuckles and choucroute garni. But these days, in this restaurant-mad city, it seems anything can be a brasserie. Witness the arrival, several months ago, in the old Time Cafe space on Lafayette Street, of Chinatown Brasserie. At this spangled nightclub of a place, tasseled lanterns and partitions made of lacquered wood have replaced the usual potted palms and acres of brass railing, and the specialties of the house are dim sum and a gourmet version of General Tso’s chicken. Then there is Brasserie Ruhlmann, new in Rockefeller Center, which has an almost-too-predictable brasserie menu and an elaborate décor devoted to the style of the Art Deco designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, making the room look like a swank Parisian hotel lobby circa 1922.
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