Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte

01What to order

• The set menuUS$38 on the house's New York page: grilled contre-filet with its sauce, matchstick fries and a walnut salad.
• The second servingIncluded; the rest of the steak and more fries come once the first plate is finished.
• The cookingPer Nick Solares, the choices are blue, rare, medium or well done.
• French wineUS$29.95 to US$42 a bottle, per the house.
• Vacherin du RelaisMeringue, ice cream and chocolate sauce; desserts run US$10 to US$18.50.

02The beef

The house says only that it serves grilled quality beef, cut as contre-filet, the French name for the strip. Nick Solares wrote that it is neither USDA Prime nor dry-aged. No source names the origin, breed or feeding of the cattle.

03The fire

The menu describes the steak as grilled. No source describes the grill or the fuel.

04The story

Gineste de Saurs kept the neon sign of the business he took over, Le Relais de Venise, to save on costs, and the waitresses' black uniforms with white collars became part of the formula. Nick Solares places the original near Porte Maillot, in the 17th arrondissement, modeled on the Café de Paris in Geneva, and says that by the late 1960s it had split into three chains run by the founder's son and two daughters. New York came later. In October 2008 The Real Deal reported a lease at 590 Lexington Avenue, at 52nd Street, for the first American branch, expected in spring 2009. A second house in SoHo, at Watts and Thompson, opened in April 2017 and had closed by January 2019. The Midtown house closed during the pandemic and reopened nearby, on East 54th Street, with the same room and menu. Today the group lists Paris, London, Mexico City, Monaco and New York.

05The practical

155 East 54th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues; phone 212-302-4090, newyorkcity@relaisdevenise.com. Lunch 11:40 to 14:45, dinner 17:30 to 22:30, per the house. No source read by Steakpedia states a reservation policy; a blog post written after the reopening described a queue before noon. The secret of the sauce stays with the house; Nick Solares reports that it is said to contain chicken livers, mustard and thyme.

Address

155 East 54th Street (between Lexington and Third Avenues), Midtown East, New York, NY 10022

Phone

+1 212 302 4090

Website

relaisdevenise.com

Directions

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