When Le Relais de Venise closed during Covid and remained closed until recently, I thought that was it. But then, I started to see people posting about this place. It did not take me long to go there, excited, knowing that the reopening triggered long lines, probably thanks to social media, a phenomenon that happened few years ago with Skirt Steak, a copycat from Chef Laurent Tourondel.

We went when I was off from work and, as they were supposed to open at 12pm, we showed up at 11:40am: there was already a line and I noticed that they already started to seat people before the official opening. I should mention that this is a new location, close to the old one and with the same feel. Although French, it refers to Venice. The reason stems from its story: it all started in 1959, when a winemaker named Paul Gineste de Saurs decided to buy an Italian restaurant in Paris with the sole intention to use it to showcase the wine produced by his family, Château de Saurs, a wine still proposed at the restaurant. As he had no experience in the restaurant business, he decided to keep the Venetian decor, add L'entrecote (strip steak) to the name and propose a single item menu: steak frites. Instead of serving the steak with the traditional butter with parsley, he served it with what is still today a secret sauce but that some say have liver and butter in it. Sixty five years later, the concept is still very popular, with few copycats that did not surpass the original idea.

The menu is simple: for $34.95, you get an overdressed salad with walnut and two servings of steak and fries, smothered by that secret sauce. For the meat, the temperature can only be rare, medium or well done. I usually go for medium-rare, and rare is too rare, medium is fine for me. The thin slices of sirloin were tender and juicy, and the fries, some of the best I had, the sauce not being a stranger to my excitement.

If you are vegetarian, they propose a cheese plate and, like previous times I went there, they were unable to tell me what cheeses were served…Nevertheless, the cheeses were of quality and not like some cheap ones that you sometimes get at restaurants. It came with fries and we asked that they do not put the sauce on it as it is not vegetarian.

To make it fair as it is also $34.95, the vegetarian meal is coming with dessert and you can pick anything on their menu. So we went with their best seller: Le Vacherin du Relais that is a succession of meringue and ice cream (vanilla and praline), topped with whipped cream and smothered with a dark chocolate sauce. This is a must have, especially if you like meringue. Not overly sweet, the ice cream balances well the sweetness of the perfectly made meringue and chocolate sauce that I would not be surprised is homemade.

Vacherin at Le Relais de Venise L'entrecôte in NYC

The place was madness, totally packed, and you could see that the kitchen was a bit challenged. As we left, there was still a long line in front of the restaurant, with hungry diners ready to eat what I consider one of the best steak frites in the city.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Le Relais de Venise - 155 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022

I Just Want To Eat!