Veau d'or was one of the restaurants I was taken to as a boy in the fifties and sixties by a doting, food-savvy grandmother. It's reputation waxed and waned--and, finally, plummeted. At its height it was a routinely packed place that had a tendency to favor regulars over newcomers. The food was solid--but better versions of the bourgeois repertoire could be found elsewhere.
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An NY coworker first took me to L'Veau D'Or about 18 years ago on a visit to the city and I fell in love with it as I love all things French and this was like dining in Paris! Mr. Threboux was still alive and involved. He seated us, stopped by to make sure everything was ok and truly added to the restaurant charm. I forgot about it after my company moved to Chelsea until I happened to see the Bourdain episode and had flash backs! I vowed to find it again on my next biz trip to NY and I succeeded. I was so pleased to see it hadn't changed and Ms Treboux carried on the same traditions as her dad. I always worry when places like that are bought out and I cringed when I read that they closed it for renovations. I hope they maintain the true character and menu as much as possible. It was/is a NY treasure.
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No one wants it to change very much, and I hope the new owners will understand it's important not just to keep some old favorites on the menu, but to avoid creating anything that might possibly be described as a "scene." Retaining the rule about no-parties-larger-than-four would be a good start. With any luck, they will value the treasure that has been entrusted to their care.
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This sounds like it could only be a disaster. Le Veau D’Or is my absolute favorite restaurant in NY, specifically because the menu and the place itself transport you back in time 40 years. I imagine this news might lead to an influx of downtown under-30 nouveau riche bores in a place where I am reliably the only under-50 diner in the small room. There are no photographs allowed there either, photogenic as it is. Hopefully I will get one more meal here before it becomes too “hip.” Blech!
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Please please please someone ask - remind - demand that they don't bring the service from Frenchette with their talents in the kitchen. Frenchette, from a complete dining experience, was a negative 2 star...The food - that was worth exploring but, in the face of horrific service, who cares.
I'm sorry but the "Frenchette" menu leaves me "froid veau". Petit pois à la Francais is a misnomer at the very least. I long for my friend A.J. in Paris at the place on Place Vendôme and the Tavel rosé. Je me souviens.
I grew up here.
My best friend's family were frequent diners here and I was always invited when they had dinner plans.
The original originals, Henri et Gerard, were gentlemen who were totally immersed in their business and true hosts.
When she and I were old enough to go for lunch alone, we'd be given the best seat in the house -- the banquette at the window.
I left New York for about 12 years (to Washington DC where Sans Souci was my go-to French) and when I returned to NY, one of the first places I lunched was here. Fortunately, for about 5 years, I worked directly across the street and would treat myself to a meal there about once a month.
The food was always good, sometimes outstanding, never just "ok" (to us) and there are so many memories over 50+ years -- I wish them well, and only to succeed and keep it going. It is an institution that needs to remain.
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I wish the new owners all the best and hope that they keep the spirit of the place.
I finally went there in 2018 and immediately wished I had been there many times before. (The next night we spent three times as much at another restaurant and had a third of the pleasure.) There is something cool about the very uncool menu at Le Veau d’Or, that trip back in time to the menu that time forgot. When everyone is doing trendy reinterpretations of classic dishes, it’s hard to remember what the classic dishes actually are. Le Veau d’Or is a palate cleanser in a world of reinvented food.
Change is inevitable, but try to keep in touch with the past.
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The friendly management of M. and Mlle. Treboux made the place a destination. I hope they manage to approximate the vibe somehow.
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This is lovely news. We travel to Europe for many reasons, but one is the sense of history and the endurance of culture. Even in restaurants. Many seek those experiences in this country, though there are fewer. This will be a highlight of a return visit to NYC, and am confident the new owners will show a balanced hand in their update and respect for the traditions of the Treboux family.
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Context, please:
With great enthusiasm, Anthony Bourdain said the menu was a journey through the past, with dishes that were old even when he was a boy.
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I hope that chefs Hanson and Nadr update the menu only to the point of taking the dishes out of the days of la mère Brazier with heavy use of roux, and into lighter but still classic versions. (I will eat anywhere that does a good tripe!) And that they clean and brighten but do not otherwise mangle the beautiful Art Moderne interior. It deserves wonderful food.
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@Suzanne Fass Frenchette service is abysmal.
I hope that I will still get a dinner reservation, unlike at Frenchette.
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Is Frenchette closing?
@ david outside boston
Pray enlighten me, without making me research the numerous editions of Larousse Gastronomique, what are oeufs en gelée [sic]?
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@Tuvw Xyz i'm not sure what you're getting at. i spelled it wrong, you spelled it right, and yet your use of the "sic" indicates that you are referencing my mistake.
i don't know if you are being snarky, and who needs that, or asking a serious question.
in any case you will need to research only one edition of the book. it will be in there. or get me some bones, vegetables and eggs and i could show you.
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Read their menu: with all due respect to the bistro longevity, I would say it is OK, but nothing exiting to my taste.
On their lists of entrees, "Grenouilles" are mistranslated as "feegs legs" [sic!].
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just read the menu. when i first started cooking in 1975 at boston's first hanging fern and breuer chair restaurant we did a bunch of the same dishes. i'm comfortable cooking, and eating that cuisine. oddly enough, the chef who mentored me, Chef Bill Lalor, admitted in print that he did more than anyone to tear down that edifice. when i knew him he had a copy of Larousse
Gastronomique in the back seat of his car and once i found his handwritten notes for making ouefs en gelee.
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Very, very pleased to read about this. We've loved Le Veau D'Or for as long as we can remember and can't wait to re-visit the restaurant. (We moved away from NYC a few years ago.)
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