About The Old Bistro
Four generations, one zinc bar.
We have moved the tables exactly twice since 1924 — both times to fit one more chair for a regular's family.
Our Story
1924
The doors open
A family of restless cooks leases a corner room on Vintner's Row and hangs a zinc bar salvaged from a shuttered café in Lyon.
1962
Second generation
The founder's daughter takes over the pass, adds bouillabaisse to the menu, and refuses to change a single recipe otherwise.
1998
A careful renovation
New wiring, new roof, same bentwood chairs and the same brass sconces — restored, not replaced.
Today
Still family-run
Four generations later, the coq au vin is unchanged and the candles are still lit by hand at five o'clock.
What We Hold Onto
Three things that haven't changed in a hundred years.
Craft
Every sauce reduced by hand, every plate finished table-side, the way it's been done since 1924.
Provenance
Bread baked at dawn on-site, produce sourced from three farms we've bought from for decades.
Hospitality
Regulars get remembered. First-timers get the exact same warmth by the time dessert arrives.
We never wanted to be trendy. We wanted to be the place you come back to for forty years, and bring your children to when you finally stop counting.
The Founding Family
Come sit with us.
The candles are lit six nights a week. We'd love to save you a table.