| Le Coucou | |
|---|---|
 The restaurant's exterior in 2024 | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2016; 9 years ago (2016) |
| Owner(s) | Stephen Starr |
| Chef | Daniel Rose |
| Rating |  Michelin Guide |
| Street address | 138 Lafayette Street |
| City | Manhattan,New York City |
| State | New York |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 10013 |
| Coordinates | 40°43′9″N74°0′0.5″W / 40.71917°N 74.000139°W /40.71917; -74.000139 |
Le Coucou is aFrench restaurant in the 11 Howard hotel inNew York City. Opened in 2016, the restaurant is owned byStephen Starr, withDaniel Rose as its chef.
Before beginningLe Coucou, Rose was a chef in Paris at his own restaurant, Spring.[1] Rose continued to operate Spring after founding Le Coucou.[2] Before formally partnering with Starr, Rose worked briefly in the kitchen of Starr's restaurantBuddakan.[1] Rose has a reputation as a "cerebral" chef, in contrast to Starr's "mass-appeal" restaurants.[1] However, Rose found Starr's existing roster of restaurants comforting as a source of support for Le Coucou.[1]
The restaurant opened in June 2016.[3]Roman and Williams designed the restaurant's interior.[4] The décor includes a mural by artistDean Barger, inspired by the works of French painterHubert Robert.[4]
The restaurant was closed for over a year during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5] It reopened in November 2021.[6] Four months were spent preparing for the reopening.[7] Though Le Coucou serves primarily French food, the reworked menu included dishes based on recipes from Spain and Portugal.[7] Rose has said these were included "to give people a sense that there’s a big wide world out there, even while travel is still a bit curtailed"[7] due to the pandemic.
Anna Sorokin ate at the restaurant frequently while living in 11 Howard.[8]
Rose has said the closed New York City French restaurantLutèce inspired the menu at Le Coucou.[2]
The restaurant received three stars fromNew York Times reviewerPete Wells.[2] Wells praised the restaurant's ability to downplay the intimidating aspects ofhaute cuisine while maintaining a sense of formality, writing that the restaurant has "an elegance that is well outside the everyday rumble of New York life but that doesn’t have...the off-putting reserve...from the old days."[2] When comparing the restaurant to New York City French mainstayLa Grenouille, Wells wrote that Le Coucou was superior in the quality of its food, service, and wine list.[2]
Pete Wells placed Le Coucou in fifty-eighth place in his 2023 ranking of the hundred best restaurants in New York City.[9]
The restaurant won theJames Beard Foundation Award forBest New Restaurant in 2017.[10]