Last season, you and your business partner, Joseph DeCristofaro, brought storied NYC restaurant La Goulue to the East End as a pop-up. Now, La Goulue Sur Mer is back for the full summer season in Southampton. What’s the vibe?
My parents, who grew up in France, were very into the French restaurants on the Upper East Side. The concept pays homage to the restaurants of that era. There is a neon sign in the front and you enter via the club room. It’s like a waiting room for your table with a server and a trolley of Champagne. There are René Bouché illustrations on the wall. I came up with a playlist of American music made from about 1958 to just before the psychedelic era. We have an original 1910 Christofle trolley to serve beef Wellington tableside. The menu has everything people love at La Goulue in New York and Palm Beach: the hamburger, the escargot, the cheese soufflé. There is valet parking so people can roll up in their sports cars; we feature them up front. We gave it a Beverly Hills touch that way.
You’ve had a home in Southampton for decades. Are you giving the restaurant a Hamptons spin?
I have been around long enough to witness the heyday of Southampton nightclubs. So, we’re planning to bring in certain acts, bands, maybe DJs to get the younger crowd in. I did a similar thing at Mortimer’s in its later years to stir up that part of the evening.
You got your start in the restaurant business as a fledgling actor in LA (shoutout Season 5, Episode 5 of “7th Heaven”).
I met Jean Denoyer, who founded La Goulue in 1973, in LA in 1998 after he started Le Colonial. I was an actor, but I was doing the door at clubs and bartending occasionally. Then, out of the blue, a friend called and said Denoyer doesn’t want to be in LA and is looking for an equity partner who can look after the restaurant. I said sure I’ll meet the guy, but I kind of forgot about it. I happened to be friends with René Elizondo Jr., who happened to be married to Janet Jackson at the time. So when we hung out, there was this whole entourage. Two weeks later, we’re speeding down Beverly Boulevard and I see the neon sign of Le Colonial. I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m supposed to go see this guy. Can you pull over?” So, we pull into the parking lot. I went upstairs to see Denoyer with René and a bunch of girls. I had a whole crew. He looked at me and said, “This is the guy.”
Le Colonial was a kind of clubhouse for New Yorkers in LA. In Palm Beach, La Goulue is a clubhouse for New Yorkers in South Florida. Who is La Goulue Sur Mer for?
It’s people from Los Angeles who remember me from back then. It’s for old-school Southampton types, like Wilbur Ross and Hilary Geary. It’s Palm Beach people, like Talbott Maxey and Cornelia Guest. It’s extraordinary to see how these different factions from different locations have coagulated here. In my acting days, I was close friends with Adrien Brody, but we lost touch. Then last summer, he rolls up to the restaurant gives me the biggest hug. It had literally been 25 years. It was extraordinary. The restaurant has given me a lot of gifts.
What is your next dream project?
To re-create the era of 1980s Hamptons dance clubs like Le Mans and Club Marakesh and really get it technically perfect. I don’t know if that would make money, but I just like doing fun things. If they make money, then great.
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