New York City: Les Halles (August 2016)

My spouse and I visited Brasserie Les Halles for a late dinner on a Friday evening in mid-August 2016. We made a reservation using the online Open Table system, although it was not necessary at the hour that we dined. Les Halles is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, from 8:00 am until 11:00 pm. We arrived at approximately 9:30 pm, and easily ordered appetizers and entrees, but when we tried to order dessert an hour later, several of the menu options (such as bananas flambee and crepes Suzette) were not available due to preparation time. So it seems that guests are expected to depart by 11:00 pm, not merely to be seated and/or to order prior to that time.

Brasserie Les Halles is located in the Financial District (FiDi) on John Street in the former John Street Theatre. The restaurant is positioned between Broadway and Nassau Street, near City Hall and Wall Street. We stayed nearby at the Millennium Hilton, and it was a quick walk to Les Halles. Prior to closing earlier this year, another location for Les Halles was in Midtown East/Murray Hill/Kips Bay (on Park Avenue between 28^th and 29^th Streets). Other previous locations included Tokyo, Miami, and Washington DC (all now closed). Prior to our visit, we were familiar with Les Halles because we are fans of former celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Les Halles features prominently in Bourdain’s books “Kitchen Confidential” and “Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook”; however, Bourdain is no longer affiliated with the restaurant.

The Les Halles space resembles a Parisian cafe, with a painted tin ceiling, black and white tile floors, wood bar/chairs/accents, and antique lighting. The restaurant offers two distinct spaces: the busier front room, which houses the long bar as well as table seating, and the quieter back room, which holds additional table seating that can be separated by sliding wooden doors, thus providing private dining space.

Les Halles serves classic French cuisine. We shared the oeuf mimosa aux truffles (truffled deviled eggs) to start, which came four to an order and were served in a unique ceramic egg carrier. For our entrees, we ordered the steak frites (which came plated with a small green salad and their award-winning French fries; the restaurant butchers their beef in-house), and the coq au vin (traditionally made with a rooster braised in red wine, with bacon, mushrooms, and onions).

We enjoyed our late-night casual meal at Brasserie Les Halles.