Maison Hugo, Upper East Side, NYC

I first met Chef Florian V. Hugo and his wife Michelle when he opened Brasserie Cognac in 2013. Florian — an Alain Ducasse veteran and a direct descendant of Victor Hugo, the French poet-novelist behind Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame — recently opened an Upper East Side neighborhood brasserie serving traditional and modern French dishes.

Maison Hugo is an intimate space with two distinctly different cozy dining rooms, seating 74 total. There’s a kids menu (enfants) designed by Florian and Michele’s 10-year-old daughter, who even painted a landscape hanging in the back zen-like grey room.

I was invited recently to sample his seasonal menu – one that he plans to change every six to eight weeks. We chose two “to share” items — the crispy ravioli d’escargots ($12) fried escargot dumpling filled with garlic butter with a garlic cream dipping sauce and the tender — not to be missed — warm gougeres ($8), cheese puffs, with comte and parmesan cheeses.

Our next course was the salade de betterave ($13), a nicely seasoned mixture of roasted beets on a horseradish cream with toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, watercress and soft-leafed lettuce in a raspberry vinaigrette. The porcini filled ravioli (ravioles de cepe au foie gras) are served in a with a sherry-imbibed duck broth that is topped with sautéed foie gras ($22).

We both were in a chicken mood. I selected the classic coq au vin, my dining partner the le poulet roti. Mine was cooked in an herbed red wine sauce with pearl onions, bacon batons and sliced mushrooms plus a modern twist of tagliatelle. His was a rotisserie chicken with roasted baby Yukon potatoes and creamy Swiss chard in a light tarragon sauce. We both shared the crisp garlicky haricot verts with shallots and pommes frites ($8 each).

We sipped a Domaine Lejeune Cote De Beaune “Les Monsnieres” 2013 ($75), a crisp white burgundy that worked wonderfully with this French fare.

Liking the pate a choux for a starter, we decided to indulge in the profiteroles with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with a bitter chocolate sauce ($10). And, always a sucker for molten chocolate cake ($10), we ordered this one served with mascarpone ice cream.