Established February 1961 City New York City Country United States | Street address 249 East 50th Street State New York Phone +1 212-752-2225 | |
Closed February 14, 2004 (2004-02-14) Address 249 E 50th St, New York, NY 10022, USA Similar Le Bernardin, La Grenouille, Le Cirque, The Four Seasons, Daniel | ||
Lutèce was a French restaurant in Manhattan that operated for more than 40 years before closing in early 2004. It once had a satellite restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip.
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It was famous for its Alsatian onion tart and a sauteed foie gras with dark chocolate sauce and bitter orange marmalade. In 1972, W magazine referred to it as one of "Les Six, the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York." The other five were La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Lafayette, and Quo Vadis; of these, only La Grenouille remains open.
History
Lutèce was opened in 1961 by founder Andre Surmain, who brought young chef André Soltner to run the kitchen. Shortly thereafter, Surmain and Soltner became partners, and they ran the restaurant together until Surmain returned to Europe. He first retired to Majorca, then later ran Le Relais à Mougins in Mougins, Southern France. In 1986, he returned to the US to open a branch of the same restaurant at the Palm Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.
Soltner became chef-owner of Lutèce until it was sold to Ark Restaurants in the 1990s. Lutèce closed on February 14, 2004, after a period of declining revenues attributed both to having alienated longtime customers with a change in menu following the restaurant's sale, and more general industry changes such as a decrease in lunchtime expense account diners and the effects on New York City's tourism industry following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Julia Child and a panel of food critics for Playboy magazine each proclaimed Lutèce the best restaurant in the United States, a rank it held in the Zagat's survey for six consecutive years in the 1980s.
In popular culture
The restaurant's reputation has led to it being used as a touchstone in film and television work made or set during the period when it was open.