After he took the throne, Napoleon instituted the tradition of serving bread with every meal to put his mother's baguette-heavy care packages to use. Indulge in French tradition with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of French cuisine at Violette in Woodstock.

Snuggled in an ivy-covered, century-old carriage house, Violette comforts weary travelers with homestyle French cooking courtesy of a highly trained mother-and-son chef team. Their menu favors local ingredients wherever possible, and, like the slowest county-fair ferris wheel ever, rotates seasonally. In the Tuscan salad, baby spinach and arugula pile decorously with fennel, red-onion crescents, and freshly shaved parmesan ($9), and cornichons and dijon mustard mingle with the Paté de Campagne ($9). Mussels, steamed with tomatoes and basil, come hailing from Prince Edward Island ($15), and the Violette cheeseburger gives a nod and an elbow jab to American eats, perching a hulky 10-ounce natural-ground sirloin atop a brioche bun, served with fries ($14). Weekendivores can enjoy brunch specialties, such as challah french toast stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese ($10).

In addition to outdoor patio seating, the cozy interior's maple wood floors, rough-hewn chestnut beams, blue-stone hearth, and Provençal blue and yellow chairs foster a space that's both rustic and chic, like a cactus corsage. Whatever the dining hour or day, Violette's gracious servers will gladly suggest pairable sippers from the wine bar, slinging revamped grape juices by the glass or bottle, domestic and imported ales and lagers, and cocktails from a full bar.