RESTAURANTS • First Person
When Libertine opened in the (far) West Village in 2023, it instantly charmed with its authentic French bistro menu (oeufs mayonnaise, oui; fries, non). And now (in the heart of) Greenwich Village comes the follow-up, Chateau Royale.
As befits its grander name and station — the restaurant fills two floors of a carriage house on Thompson, one block north of Carbone — Chateau Royale takes more of a fine dining approach to French cooking than Libertine. We arrived early for our 6p reservation last Saturday, surveying the scene downstairs at the dark, wood-paneled barroom before a host led us up two long flights of whitewashed stairs to the main dining room above.
To my delight at this early hour, I found a restaurant in full motion, nearly every table filled with a classic cross-section of New Yorkers — at one table, a trio dressed in black tie — exulting in that feeling of the city in September, completely and unapologetically back at it.
It’s an elegant dining room. Booths run along one wall, with a few tables in the middle, and a long banquette running under the windows to the street, which is where we were seated. You might think those middle tables would be the ones to avoid, but set under a large central skylight, they appeared as delightful as any spot in the room. In lieu of art, sconces and mirrors complete the understated look.
Despite the relatively tight confines, it didn’t take long for the roving martini cart to find us. The jovial cart bartender/sommelier took our order — a dry vodka martini with a twist for my dining companion; for me, something dirtier — mixed them, then artfully poured both drinks into two icy martini glasses. Along with each drink came three delicious green olives, fresh from resting in proprietor Cody Pruitt’s secret house brine. If our night wrapped here, we would have left happy.
But of course we had yet to contend with the menu, a smart, tightly edited affair. From the fruits de mer portion that kicks it off, we ordered two beggar’s purses — not quite the equal of those on offer at Penny, but nonetheless eliciting a delighted yelp from my partner when she bit through the pastry casing to the caviar tucked within. From the starters, we opted for two classic choices, escargots Bourguignonne and artichoke (steamed just like your parents made it) with Béarnaise sauce for dipping, that we (and seemingly every other table) couldn’t stop eating.
The short list of main courses calls back to fine French dining in New York City over the decades, including lobster thermidor and Dover sole à la Grenouille (a reinterpreted tribute to the dish at the late Midtown restaurant). We ordered duck a l’orange and — hey, why the hell not — chicken cordon bleu, the latter throwback classic arriving as a giant fried ball of breaded chicken wrapped in ham and extremely gooey cheese. Alongside, we added a simple mixed green salad and (at last) very good French fries, to soak it all up.
Those main courses were pleasing, but perhaps because of their familiarity, neither delivered the crackle of novelty I felt my first night at Libertine. Next time, we’ll try dining downstairs in the barroom, which shares part of the menu with upstairs but also adds a burger and even a hot dog to keep things more casual. But we’ll come back upstairs for that unmistakable feeling that only a jammed, jumping dining room in a hot New York City restaurant can deliver. —Lockhart Steele
→ Chateau Royale (Greenwich Village) • 205 Thompson St • Daily 5p-12a, Sat-Sun brunch debuts this weekend 1130a-230p • Reserve.