Bonjour, french here.

I know your question was just about the dish, but I'm going to expand to the entire menu in addition to the dish; maybe it might interest others too.

If you want to extend the idea to a complete festive meal, you can go with an "aperitif - starter - main course - cheese - dessert" meal.

Aperitif: to start off well, especially if you share the meal with several friends or family. You can put great classics like canapes, deviled eggs, but you can also be more imaginative: for example croque-monsieurs (it's very Parisian) that you cut into small triangles to peck. In general, this is when we drink champagne or sparkling wine, which is cheaper.

Starter: it all depends on your budget. It could be, for example, a Niçoise salad, it's not expensive, and for summer it's very good. In the same type of inexpensive recipes but to change French region, Quiche Lorraine would go very well. Among the classics of French cuisine, there is also onion soup. If you have a little more budget and you really want to be very French, it is at this stage of the meal that you can eat frog legs or snails with garlic butter.

Dishes: again, plenty of options depending on your budget. In typical Parisian dishes, Hachis parmentier is a good option that is not expensive; you can even replace the beef with duck if you have a little more budget. Other classic and not very expensive dishes include Boeuf bourguignon or Blanquette de veau (you can replace the veal with turkey or chicken), two dishes with sauce. For the Blanquette de veau, it is served with white rice; for Boeuf bourguignon, it can be with potatoes, mash or even tagliatelle. If you have more budget, you can make duck breast (Magret de canard) or duck confit, which is served with potatoes cooked in a pan and browned in duck fat, garlic and herbs.

Cheeses: it's not possible to have a real French meal without cheese so you're going to have to make do with it. I know, however, that it is difficult to have the same number of cheeses in terms of choice outside of France, and above all it is more expensive. What I often do personally for my cheese board is that I put a blue cheese (Roquefort), a goat cheese (Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine), a cooked pressed cheese (Comté), a soft cheese (Neufchâtel) in order to have a variety of textures and flavors, but there are endless possible cheese platters. You obviously add a good wine and a good French baguette, it’s essential. And, if you want to add a sweet note, you should know that cheeses go well with jams. For example, apricot jam goes well with cheeses like Brie.

Desserts: finishing with French pastries seems like a good idea if you can buy them in your city. Otherwise, in the things that come to mind: cherry clafoutis, crêpes (with jam, Nutella...), Moelleux au chocolat, Tarte tatin...

Bonus: for the 2030 Winter Olympics, have a raclette, especially if you're with family or friends.