Le Veau d’Or, the pocket-size icon that for decades was one of the last bastions of old-school French dining in New York, will finally reopen on July 16 following five years of dormancy. The new iteration is the latest effort from Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the duo behind Frenchette and Le Rock. They took over the E. 60th Street space from Catherine Tréboux, whose French-born father, Robert, bought the 87-year-old institution in 1985.
The new Veau d’Or will be similar to the old Veau d’Or, with a $125, three-course, prix fixe menu, approximately ten appetizers, ten entrées, and five desserts to choose from. It’s not a far cry from the restaurant’s original table d’hôte setup. (Prices for a three-course meal in 2019 ranged from $49 to $65.) Hanson and Nasr have been tight-lipped about their plans for the food, but they did allow that dishes will be reminiscent of the original restaurant, which featured bistro classics like boeuf Bourguignon, filet de sole amandine, and a roast rack of lamb carved tableside.
Also staying largely intact is the classic bistro décor of red banquettes and two-toned wood paneling. An oil painting of a lamb tucked into bed, a fixture at the old place, remains on the wall. The changes that have been made include a new kitchen, a private dining room on the second story, and red-and-black checks on the floor, based on an old postcard of the restaurant.
Another tie to the past is Derek Tréboux, Catherine’s son, who often worked the floor in the old days and more recently did a stint at Le Rock, and who will serve here as the maître d’.
The rest of the staff includes Charlie Izenstein as the executive chef, Michelle Palazzo as the executive pastry chef, Jorge Riera as the wine director, and Sarah Morrissey as the bar manager. The latter position is novel for the address. In the past, the bar, with its few stools, was an afterthought. If someone ordered a martini, chances were Catherine mixed it up herself. Morrissey’s classically oriented cocktail menu of eight drinks, meanwhile, will change seasonally and display New York and French influences. Among the bar staff is David Moo, a familiar presence at Long Island Bar.
“We’re going back to the original way it was run,” says Catherine. “It’s a return to a real restaurant, from my father’s private dining room. He was able to run it in his eccentric way.”
Le Veau d’Or opened in 1937. Robert Tréboux, who worked under Henri Soulé at Le Pavillon, kept things the same until his death in 2012, after which his daughter took over. When the Frenchette team took up the reins, the plan was to reopen in fall 2019, but delays and the pandemic intervened.
“Honestly, I tried to give up,” says Catherine. Hanson and Nasr, she says, “were the ones who never wanted to give up — they never wavered.”
In its heyday, Le Veau d’Or was a hangout for the likes of Orson Welles, Truman Capote, Marlene Dietrich, and Bobby Short. Grace Kelly met Oleg Cassini there. New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne called it the one restaurant he couldn’t live without. And Gay Talese was a regular until the last. He’ll be back to provide continuity. “When Le Veau d’Or reopens,” Talese tells me, “I will resume my patronage there.”
