| Indochine | |
|---|---|
 The restaurant's exterior in 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Indochine | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1984 (1984) |
| Location | 430Lafayette Street,New York,New York,New York, 10003 |
| Coordinates | 40°43′45″N73°59′32″W / 40.7292°N 73.9923°W /40.7292; -73.9923 |
Indochine is a French-Vietnamese restaurant founded in the 1980s in New York City[1] by restaurateurBrian McNally (who had previously co-foundedThe Odeon with his brotherKeith McNally)[2] and music producerJohn Loeffler.[3] Opened "among the auto body shops of grittyLafayette Street"[1] it sits in a historic row of buildings across from thePublic Theater known asLa Grange Terrace, which was, at times, the home ofVanderbilts,Astors,Julia Gardiner Tyler (wife ofPresident Tyler), andWarren Delano Jr. (grandfather ofFDR).[4]
Opening in 1984 with a dinner honoring artistJulian Schnabel,[5] Indochine quickly became a popular gathering place for members of what is referred to as the East Village art scene,[6] which includedJean-Michel Basquiat,Kenny Scharf, andAndy Warhol.[7]
In 1992, McNally sold the business to Jean-Marc Houmard — who had started at the restaurant as a waiter in 1986 — along with partners Michael Callahan and chef Huy Chi Le.[2] The restaurant retained much of its original design, including the signature palm leaf motif and low lighting, as well as its unique menu, considered by many as an early example of thefusion cuisine trend in the United States.[8]
Critical reception has varied over time. A 1984 review inThe New York Times described it as offering "some invigorating food from Southeast Asia."[9] In a follow-up piece, they remarked that the "still-trendy-after-all-these-years" restaurant served "vivid and authentic" spring rolls;[10] another review byThe Infatuation called the same signature rolls "entirely generic."[11] However, in 2004Times criticFrank Bruni remarked that "food was beside the point," calling Indochine "the epitome of cool" and the living idea of a restaurant as a "badge of knowingness and belonging."
In 2009, marking its 25th anniversary,Rizzoli publishedIndochine: Stories, Shaken and Stirred,[12] a photo book featuring archival images of high-profile guests in the restaurant over the years, such asMadonna,Kate Moss,Grace Jones,Marc Jacobs,Bruce Weber, andValentino[13] with many of the photos taken byPatrick McMullan,Roxanne Lowit, andPatrick Demarchelier, published alongside stories by writers such asSalman Rushdie,Anthony Haden-Guest, andMoby, and artworks byFrancesco Clemente,Helmut Lang,Ruben Toledo,Tom Sachs, and more.
Around this time,Vogue editor-in-chiefAnna Wintour described Indochine as "virtually unique in New York – and pretty much everywhere else, for that matter."[14]