Chez Leon to Become Brasserie by Niche
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| Ian Froeb |
"We're hoping [to open] at the latest by November 1st," Craft told me this afternoon. "All we're going to do right off the bat is a minor cosmetic makeover, repainting the [Chez Leon] sign and some logo work."
The menu will be completely new -- though as the name might suggest, it will remain French. In charge of the kitchen will be Perry Hendrix, whom Craft describes as "a really, really cool guy." In fact, prior to moving to St. Louis to open Niche, Craft worked for Hendrix in Salt Lake City, and it was through this association that Craft met his pastry chef, Mathew Rice.
Brasserie by Niche will be open every day but Monday. It will serve only dinner at first. Craft foresees opening for lunch and, on the weekend, brunch in January.
This is the latest event in what has a very busy year for Craft. In May, he was one of five finalists for "Best Chef - Midwest" in the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards. In July, he opened Taste adjacent to Niche, featuring cocktails from mixologist Ted Kilgore and a menu of modestly priced dishes.
3 comment(s) / Post a Comment
Need reservation in Dec. after the 22nd.
For two.
Our service was TERRIBLE! We were seated at a broken table, and when we asked it be fixed or we be reseated, the staff indicated they knew the table was broken, but sat us there anyway! We finally got a new table about 30m later, but no water or bread was brought while we were waiting. We noticed there were 3 other tables open sooner but we were not moved to them. We had to ask for bread 4 times, our waiters seemed confused about who should be serving us (so none did). When we finally got reseated, our new waiter was fantastic (Todd, I think). He helped make the night worthwhile, after such a disappointing start. It just didn't seem like anyone else there cared if we had a nice night. Luckily the food was good, though quite delayed.
Posted On: Monday, Feb. 1 2010 @ 4:22PM
