“Every time you open a space, it’s a little bit like a step into the unknown,” says the downtown restaurateur Jon Neidich. “It’s about allowing yourself to let go and allowing the space to really come to life and let the people start to experience it.”
With his company Golden Age Hospitality, Neidich is responsible for downtown hot spots like Le Dive, The Nines, Acme and more. His latest is transforming the former Morgenstern’s space into Saint Denis bar and bistro, a return to downtown roots with classic French cuisine.
“The space is inspired by the energy of places that were downtown in sort of a different time, sort of in the late ’80s, ’90s,” Neidich says. “I take a lot of my inspiration from what feels historically New York to me. I’m always listening to what the location is and what I think that it wants to be. And then also we’ll create a narrative that we let inform us that I think crowns it in a sense of authenticity.”
Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley, Sarah Morrissey and Jon Neidich of Saint Denis.
Tom Scanlan/Courteys of Saint Denis Bar
The intimate bistro sits on the corner of West Houston and LaGuardia place at the edge of SoHo and the West Village.
“It’s really at the intersection — the entrance to both the West Village and also going down to SoHo and it’s at the bottom of historically what was the Village. So, it’s kind of at the intersection of an amazing little New York moment,” says Neidich. “I really think of it more as a SoHo venue. Also being a French restaurant and having downtown and kind of all the history that’s gone along with those great SoHo and downtown French restaurants.”
Saint Denis, which is named after France’s Patron Saint Denis and Dionysius, the Greek god of wine, is led by chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley, of Pastis, The View, and St. Anselm; former Le Veau d’Or beverage director Sarah Morrissey, and wine director Jamie Kelso, formerly of Parcelle.
Dishes at Saint Denis.
Courtesy of Saint Denis
Together they’ve curated a menu of bistro fare fit for any occasion including steak au poivre, escargot, chicken liver mousse, along with French cocktails and a selection of more than 80 all-French wines.
“The menu was inspired by classic bistro food, and Marjorie has such an amazing history working in that food,” Neidich says. “Really it’s just creating a menu that’s tight and celebrates the classics and is how I would want to eat — doing the things that I think are so unique to classic New York, French downtown restaurants and doing them really well.”
As an art collector and board chair of Creative Time, Neidich’s cultured aesthetic sensibility is evident in the design of the space. The focal point of the dining room, a 17-foot antique Art Deco bar back Neidich personally sourced from Paris, and the walls are lined with a salon-style hanging of sketches, prints and photographs that complement the cozy dialogue between the wood shutters and merlot leather booths.
A cocktail at Saint Denis.
Courtesy of Saint Denis
“We’ve been working with a lot of young artists to make different sketches that we’re then going to have as a part of the artwork of the space,” Neidich says. “I think if you’re going to make a French bistro in SoHo, then art and artists have to be a part of its story and culture.”
“For us, creating things that feel like they’re a part of the neighborhood and sort of blend into the landscape and feel like they’ve been here for a long time is always something that we’re going for,” Neidich adds. “And it’s inspired by a lot of the great dining rooms of downtown New York in the past.”
Dining and Cooking