Brasserie Les Halles

Brasserie Les Halles
Brasserie Les Halles
	Park Avenue South Location
Restaurant information
Food type	French bistro steakhouse
Street address	15 John Street
City	Manhattan, New York City
State	New York
Country	United States

Brasserie Les Halles was a French-brasserie-style restaurant located on 15 John Street (between Broadway & Nassau Street; in the Financial District) in Manhattan, New York City.^[1]^[2] Previous locations were on Park Avenue South in Manhattan, in Tokyo, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Author and television host Anthony Bourdain was the predecessor to the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles, Carlos Llaguno. The restaurant went bankrupt in August 2017.^[3]

Overview

The restaurant was opened in 1990 by chefs Jose de Meirelles, Philippe Lajaunie, and Jean-Michel Diot and named after Les Halles, the historic central wholesale marketplace in Paris.^[4] The restaurant served simple and classic French dishes such as escargot, foie gras, and steak tartare, which was prepared to order at tableside, and was renowned for its pommes frites. The original Park Avenue location featured a butcher shop that specialized in French cuts of meat. The Park Avenue location was featured prominently in the book Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, who also detailed many of Les Halles' recipes in Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. The Downtown New York branch occupied the site of the former John Street Theatre, "Birthplace of American Theatre".^[5]

The Park Avenue location of Les Halles closed in March 2016. The Washington, D.C. location of Les Halles closed in mid-November 2008 following a fifteen-year run. Owner Philippe Lajaunie cited difficulty obtaining a new lease as the reason. The Miami location is now closed as well.^[3]

In its 2013 user poll, Zagat gave its two New York restaurants each a food rating of 21 out of 30.^[2]

In 2018, Les Halles, though closed down, became a memorial to Anthony Bourdain after his suicide.^[6]

In March 2022, a new French-style restaurant named La Brasserie opened in the former Les Halles space on Park Avenue. La Brasserie owner Francis Staub, previously the founder of Staub cookware, expressed his intent to continue the Brasserie Les Halles philosophy. Some iconic dishes by Anthony Bourdain, such as the Steak Frites, are kept on the menu as an homage.^[7] La Brasserie was rebranded as 'Chez Francis' in April 2023.^[8]