EATERIES GET FRENCH-FRIED By BRADEN KEIL
They came to whine, not dine.
Top French chefs and restaurateurs gathered at Le Cirque in Manhattan yesterday to speak out against what they call a boycott of the city's French eateries.
To stem an anti-French backlash fueled by France's pro-Saddam Hussein political stance, Cristyne Lategano Nicholas, president of NYC & Company, the city tourism agency, unveiled a print ad that will appear in newspapers with the headline: "17,312 restaurants in the city all serve the same thing. New York."
The ad makes reference to a "boycott" of Manhattan's French restaurants. Jacques Capsuoto of Capsuoto Freres directly blamed the press for fueling the boycott fires.
"You, the press, have added to the boycott. We have a bad economy. We have a bad stock market. We are downtown. The winter was very cold. There is a war. We have a French name, and there is no smoking," he said.
When asked by The Post of the origin of the boycott, Nicholas rolled her eyes and laughed.
"That's funny," she said.
When told The Post had listed alternatives to French-made products, she responded:
"We wanted to make sure we got the message out that any boycotting against New York City establishments, whatever their nationality, hurts New York.
"They are owned by New Yorkers and employ New Yorkers while contributing to our economy."