Le Cherche Midi
Italian restaurant · Notre-Dame des Champs ·
Traditional Italian bistro with house-made pasta and focaccia
Traditional Italian bistro with house-made pasta and focaccia
"It may have been hyperbole, but Ina called this the “best lunch in Paris” after dining here during the Olympics. An Italian-influenced brasserie dating back to 1978, the restaurant distinguishes itself with a menu of fresh pasta, olive focaccia made in-house, special imported mozzarella, and Saturday Milanese specials. The menu changes daily and seasonally, but you can’t go wrong with the fish of the day and a homemade dessert." - Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
"On the corner of Bowery and Houston, Keith McNally’s meaty and critically acclaimed Lower East Side bistro closed after four years on Bowery; the team said an expiration of its lease prompted the shutdown and a New York State Department of Labor notice recorded layoffs of 46 staffers. Reborn in 2014 (the space had housed Pulino’s in 2008), it opened to immediate acclaim: Pete Wells awarded two stars, Hugh Merwin called it the “perfect bistro,” and I gave it two stars as well, praising McNally’s knack for creating venues that feel like perpetually exclusive after-parties for pretty people while still welcoming walk-ins. The menu included showstoppers such as dry-aged prime rib with ethereal pommes souflees." - Ryan Sutton
"I report that Bowery restaurant Cherche Midi shuttered this weekend." - Stefanie Tuder
"The Keith McNally-helmed French bistro at 282 Bowery will close on June 10; the four-year-old Lower East Side brasserie features many McNally signatures — antique mirrors, leather banquettes, a vibe that’s simultaneously warm and hip — and a consistent crowd of downtowners." - Stefanie Tuder
"Closing this summer after four years on the Bowery, Cherche Midi — Keith McNally’s meaty Nolita/LES French bistro — is laying off its 46 employees in June as the lease expires (a state filing cited economic reasons while the team tells Eater the lease is ending). It opened in June 2014 in the 282 Bowery space that briefly housed Pulino’s Bar and Pizzeria and sports many of McNally’s signatures: antique mirrors, leather banquettes, a vibe that’s simultaneously warm and hip, and a consistent crowd of downtowners. The kitchen excelled particularly at meat — known for a big prime rib and other classic bistro fare — and the restaurant received two stars from Eater’s Ryan Sutton and two stars from the Times, often praised more for its reliability as a McNally restaurant than for culinary cartwheels. This is the restaurateur’s second recent closure, after Schiller’s Liquor Bar shut last August, and plans to reopen Pastis have been quiet." - Serena Dai
