Allons, enfants! French-style Palm Beach restaurants celebrate Bastille Day

It won’t be long before the staff at Palm Beach French bistro Le Bilboquet dons 18th-century-style white-haired wigs and red kerchiefs while waving mini French flags.

France’s annual Bastille Day on July 14 — commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille as well as the 1790 declaration of the unity of the French people — never fails to bring out patriotic verve and costumed fun at the Worth Avenue via bistro.

Special fare also will be served (including complimentary canapés) as other French restaurants and bistros on the island also serve special dishes to commemorate France's La Fête Nationale.

At Le Bilboquet, look for a special cocktail July 14 called “Le Libertine” ($25), featuring fresh lemon juice, dry Curaçao, maraschino, cognac, lemon oil and a festive sugar rim.

Guests dining at the Via Encantada bistro, 245A Worth Ave., will be treated to a complimentary amuse-bouche of three canapés representing the colors of France’s flag.

Among the canapés: foie gras with crispy vitelotte (a blue-violet potato) and blueberry chutney (blue); heirloom tomato gazpacho (red) in a shot glass; and a cheese gougère (white).

French-American restaurant Café Boulud at The Brazilian Court, 301 Australian Ave., will mark Bastille Day by offering such menu specials as bouillabaisse ($42) and Grand Marnier soufflé ($22).

July 14 brunch and dinner specials will be featured in addition to regular menus at La Goulue, 288 S. County Road, to commemorate Bastille Day.

Brie cheese en croûte ($24) with a mesclun salad; goat cheese-and-spinach quiche ($24) with watercress salad; and grilled spicy lamb sausage ($32) with chili paste, French fries and a petite salad are among the Bastille Day brunch specials at La Goulue.

The brie en croûte will be featured again during dinner service as well as braised chicken stew ($48) in red wine sauce with button mushrooms, bacon, pearl onions and pappardelle; and mille-feuille ($22) layered with puff pastry and vanilla pastry cream.

On Bastille Day at Café L’Europe, 331 S. County Road, look for such specials as mussels marinière ($26), frog’s legs Provençale ($56) with tomato, garlic and rice pilaf, and warm apple-caramel tatin ($18) with vanilla ice cream.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Allons, enfants! French-style Palm Beach restaurants celebrate Bastille Day