New York City is full of surprises for newcomers. A young woman arrives, pursues her dream of becoming a dancer, working parttime as a waitress to support herself. Years later, she finds herself owning one of the most popular French restaurants on the Upper East Side. And, oh yes, she still finds time to dance.
That woman is Suzanne Latapie, owner of Bistro Chat Noir, a charming French restaurant housed in a lovely townhouse on East 66th Street. (See review under Dining Around). Dining at the restaurant is like being welcomed into Suzanne’s home. “You’ve got to make the room warm,” says Suzanne. “You’ve got to give great service and to make it personal.”
The restaurant business is personal for Suzanne. She met her husband, Francois Latapie, at a bus stop only six months after she arrived in New York. “I was a dancer,” she says, “and I came to New York to work as a choreographer. But I had to support myself.” When she wasn’t dancing, Suzanne was working in restaurants. She ticks them off on her fingers—Café Un Deux Trois, Contropunto, Yellow Fingers, Le Perigord. Francois introduced her to his circle of French friends, most of them working in the restaurant business. “It’s the French mafia,” she says with a laugh. “Once you know one of them, you know all of them.”
After Suzanne and Francois married they both continued to work in restaurants. “I was maitre d’ at Café Un Deux Trois, but I always kept my dance roots,” she says. She also worked as a personal trainer, running classes at 6:30 a.m. and then working at the restaurant until 1 a.m. Francois held three different jobs. “We both worked all the time.”
In 1990, now parents to two daughters, Suzanne and Francois moved to Miami Beach and ran a restaurant together. “It was so much fun!” she says. “Francois really taught me the business. And people loved coming in to see a husband and wife working together.”
However, they both missed New York, so in 1993 they came back to work at La Goulue Restaurant, which had lost its lease and was changing its location from a side street on the Upper East Side to Madison Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets. “Whenever you move a restaurant, it’s upsetting to the clientele,” she says. The restaurant’s owner, Jean Denoyer, “ripped out the walls and sconces and retrofitted everything to the new space.”
Francois became a partner in the restaurant and hired Suzanne as manager. “He knew he would have to train a new manager and he had already trained me,” she says. “It was like our own restaurant.”
La Goulue became a place where the well-heeled and famous gathered for lunch. The restaurant was immortalized in Stuart Woods’ mysteries. His protagonist, lawyer and former cop, Stone Barrington, often lunched at La Goulue with his pal and former partner NYPD Capt. Dino Bachetti. Nelson DeMille, the best-selling author (Plum Island, The Gold Coast, The Gate House), was also a regular. “It became like a club,” recalls Suzanne. “The group was intelligent, savvy. People ate there every day. Someone even received his mail at La Goulue!”
The customers knew the Latapie children, Sabine, now 23 and a wine seller, and Sophie, 19, a college sophomore. “Everyone would ask about our children. That part of it was priceless.”
In 1995, Francois moved to Orsay on Lexington Avenue and rumors began to spread about the future of La Goulue. (The restaurant closed on August 26). Suzanne knew she needed to make future plans. So three years ago she opened Bistro Chat Noir on East 66th Street off Madison. The long, narrow location was originally occupied by Corrado Bread and Suzanne worked hard to transform the space. “It was a difficult space and we had to make it into a restaurant,” she says. “My challenge was to get rid of the echo and the noise.”
Besides the physical aspects, Suzanne has worked to bring her own personal touch into Bistro Chat Noir. “La Goulue was too crowded because it was too big,” she says. “I wanted to take care of people who drop in without a reservation.” Customer service is on the top of her list. When her customers ask to have something put back on the menu, she accommodates them. She now has highchairs in her restaurant so that young families can dine out with young children.
Although Bistro Chat Noir is Suzanne’s business, she still knows she can call on Francois for advice. These days he is working at A Voce’s new restaurant in the Time Warner Center with respected chef Missy Robbins, and also continues to consult.
On weekends, Suzanne and Francois like to spend time at their country house in Cutchogue. “We have a table that seats twelve, so we often cook things and bring the ideas back to the restaurant,” she says. With nine more years on her lease at Bistro Chat Noir, Suzanne hasn’t ruled out opening a restaurant on Long Island.
Running a restaurant is a tough business, particularly in today’s economy. But Bistro Chat Noir continues to thrive. Refugees from La Goulue are happy to find they merely have to walk around the corner to once again enjoy wonderful French food. And, of course, they are thrilled to see Suzanne greeting them.
“You have to be a shrink to be in the restaurant business,” she says with a laugh. “But if you’re good at it and you listen to your clientele, you can succeed.”
Woman Around Town’s Six Questions
Favorite Place to Eat: Thai Market, 108 and Amsterdam. I really love spicy Thai food, and often go to Thai Market with Francois and the girls. It is next to our apartment.
Favorite Place to Shop: Horribly addicted to TJMaxx and Forever 21. Love a great deal! Otherwise, for excellent quality, beauty and simple styling: Beretta, Madison and 63rd.
Favorite New York Sight: “The New York Experience” in the Empire State Building,really just for kids, but hilarious take on our crazy city!! The seats move! I also just running Central Park under the cherry blossoms in the spring time.Favorite New York Moment: Walking down the street, listening to my girls laugh and saying funny things.
What You Love About New York: Diversity and Excitement
What You Hate About New York: Too noisy
