Les Enfants de Bohème officially opens today at 177 Henry St. after a week or so in soft-open mode. The restaurant is owned by Stefan Jonot, who operated Les Enfants Terribles on Canal Street before it closed three years ago.
The original spot was a neighborhood favorite that captured the casual, creative spirit of an area that has now blown up into a restaurant destination. The idea of the new French bistro is to recreate some of the Les Enfants magic a few blocks to the the south and east, in an out-of-the-way part of the neighborhood.
The restaurant is open from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with full dinner service available now and breakfast and lunch menus rolling out over the next few weeks. You can expect classic French bistro fare focused on fresh ingredients and simple preparations.
The opening dinner menu includes a tomato-cucumber-melon gazpacho, butcher’s cut steak with a light chimichurri sauce, roasted red Spanish bell peppers stuffed with smoked tuna rillette, kale Caesar salad and steak tartare with harissa, capers, and mint. There is a daily charcuterie and cheese selection. At lunch, there’s croque monsieur with Gruyère and country ham and herbed roast chicken, among other items.
The space was designed by Jonot’s wife and partner, Cathy Lang Ho (a design writer and curator), along with Brooklyn-based Freecell Architecture. Josh Lucas, the actor, is also a partner.
