A Touch of France on the Upper West Side

By Sally Koslow

If the West 100s on Broadway aren’t your stomping ground, you may be unaware of the area’s  cluster of culinary options.

Ellington’s is a magnet for holiday gatherings; on Halloween, for example, the best costume will win a $150 gift card. Across the street, customers are willing to stand in line to score Mama Too’s award-winning pizza, though for 66 years locals have sworn by slices at Sal & Carmine’s. Next door: chefs at Sushi W create omakase from premium ingredients. Serafina, with its white tablecloths and Italian fare, continues to be popular, as is Ollie’s for Chinese. Smoke Jazz and Supper Club has long been a Manhattan classic, and Columns Wine Bar and Kasari, for Indian food, are new kids on these blocks. Soon, Telio, a Greek restaurant, will open.

But I buried the lede.

Walk north from the subway at Broadway and West 103rd Street and laughter and music drifts your way. At brunch, dogs and children join families at convivial tables. By late afternoon, lights twinkle across the sidewalk as couples and friends gather for Happy Hour with bargain cocktails that often lead to dinner. Is this a party to which you didn’t make the cut? No, you’ve stumbled on indisputably the most festive spot on the Upper West Side: Café du Soleil, a homey French bistro at 2723 Broadway that, in the spirit of “Cheers,” anchors the neighborhood.

“For 16 years we ran a French restaurant in the 60’s between Park and Madison,” reports owner Nadine Chevreux, a native of Paris. “Then the rent went crazy. Having moved to a townhouse in Harlem, my husband Alain”—a Frenchman from Alsace Lorraine—”and I decided to try the Upper West Side.” 

From the start, Café du Soleil—which translates to Café of the Sun—crushed it. “East Siders expected a snobby concept because our customers were Europeans and Wall Street types, but here we were welcomed by intellectuals, artists, and regular, nice people who wanted simple French comfort food,” said Chevreux. Soupe l’oignons, pate, coq au vin, cassoulet, bouillabaisse, boeuf Bourguignon and similar classics complete the menu along with vegan entrees and tarte tatin, mousse a chocolat, crème brulee and other traditional desserts. The restaurant is also known for special promotions. On Monday and Tuesday $24 buys you a big bowl of steamed mussels, garlic French fries, and a glass of wine or beer. Every Thursday or Sunday a three-course meal for two plus a bottle of wine costs $89.

But embracing Café du Soleil has never been due strictly to the food, Chevreux claims. “It’s about the entire experience–our décor, lighting, music, art, and employees, who are almost all French and, in many cases, long-standing, create a casual, friendly, and yes, very French ambiance,” she said. Many regular diners and servers are on a first-name basis. It’s very much a family business, with the couple’s four sons all doing their bit at one time or another. Currently, Stefan, age 30, is Alain’s right hand, though Nadine gives full credit to her husband for Café du Soleil’s success. “He’s always thinking of the restaurant,” she said. The role she plays is involved but less hands-on – “because we could see that working together could lead to a divorce.” Also, Chevreux runs a catering business now: www.voilacaterersnyc.com

“We work very hard at Café du Soleil,” Nadine stresses. Never was this more evident than during the pandemic, when Alain discovered and invested in transparent igloo-like tents to surround outdoor tables. Local media, including the Rag, helped spread the word and during those dark days Café du Soleil was hopping–as were the staff who schlepped the set-up in and out every day. Recently, Nadine and Alain installed a broad pergola that the city will allow to stay open through November and to reopen next April. In the style of Paris’s historic Café de Flor, for maximum people-watching its tables-for-two face the restaurant. I recently saw the ghosts of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir sitting there, scarfing down escargot and toasting this installation with an Aperol Spritz. Or maybe it was Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. Or my super and his wife.

Let me sort that out. In the meantime, bon appetit.

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