Brasserie Les Halles


Brasserie Les Halles was a French-brasserie-style restaurant located on 15 John Street in Manhattan, New York City. Previous locations were on Park Avenue South in Manhattan, in Tokyo, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Author and television host Anthony Bourdain was the predecessor to the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles, Carlos Llaguno. The restaurant went bankrupt in August 2017.

Overview

The restaurant served simple and classic French dishes such as escargot, foie gras, and steak tartare, which was prepared to order at tableside, and was renowned for its pommes frites. The original Park Avenue location featured a butcher shop that specialized in French cuts of meat. The Park Avenue location was featured prominently in the book by Anthony Bourdain, who also detailed many of Les Halles' recipes in Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. The Downtown New York branch occupied the site of the former John Street Theatre, "Birthplace of American Theatre." The restaurant is named after Les Halles, the historic central wholesale marketplace in Paris, France.
The Park Avenue location of Les Halles closed in March 2016. The Washington, D.C. location of Les Halles closed in mid-November 2008 following a fifteen-year run. Owner Philippe Lajaunie cited difficulty obtaining a new lease as the reason. The Miami location is now closed as well.
In 2013, Zagat gave its two New York restaurants each a food rating of 21 out of 30.