New York has never met a French restaurant it didn’t like—and Cafe Charmant is arriving just in time to keep the city’s current Francophile obsession going. The new French brasserie from Catch Hospitality Group is taking over the former Saint Theo’s space at 340 Bleecker Street in the West Village, with a menu that aims for the sweet spot between classic French bistro and breezy coastal escape.
Translation: steak frites, seafood, martinis and pretending you’re spending the weekend in the South of France.
Led by chef Jake Tyler Brodsky, whose résumé includes time at Eleven Madison Park and a stint in the Cayman Islands, Cafe Charmant is putting a lighter, seaside spin on traditional French cooking. Expect staples like Niçoise salad and steak frites, alongside a raw bar and coastal seafood designed for diners who would like their dinner with a side of Riviera fantasy.
The cocktails are getting plenty of attention, too. Beverage director Lucas Robinson has created a menu featuring French-inspired techniques and drinks including a Provençal Dirty Martini, Garibaldi and Cucumber Sour. Because apparently the regular dirty martini wasn’t French enough.
Wine lovers won’t be left behind. The program is overseen by Emily Buse, a sommelier recognized by Wine Spectator, giving Cafe Charmant some serious beverage-world credentials to go with all those tiny French glasses.
Then there’s the room. Designed by Rockwell Group, the roughly 70-seat restaurant is meant to feel eclectic, European and timeless without becoming a Paris theme park.
Cafe Charmant is part of a busy new wave of French restaurants in NYC, but its coastal approach could help it stand apart. In a city currently drowning in steak frites, the real challenge isn’t getting New Yorkers to order French food.
It’s convincing them they’ve found their new favorite French restaurant in NYC.
And Cafe Charmant just might have the charm to pull it off.
