39 Rue de Jean

With classic French panache, 39 Rue de Jean has captured the imagination of Charleston and helped define the surrounding neighborhood on upper King Street. There was nothing like it when the restaurant opened its doors in 2001, and little else to bring people to John Street. Today, it’s the toast of the town and has garnered national attention just in time for the annual rush of visitors that spring and Spoleto bring to the city.

Rue de Jean is a little piece of Paris in the heart of the Lowcountry. The chic styling is straight out of late 19th-century France, the belle epoch when art nouveau flourished and the brasserie — a casual eatery with home cooking and lots of selections of beer and wine — was born. According to partner David LeBoutillier, a lot of intangibles—the “je ne sais quoi” of the restaurant business—play into the making, or breaking, of a restaurant, but a clear concept is a strong start. That’s what brought him and managing partner Andy Fallen together. “We both very much enjoyed the concept of Balthazar, a New York restaurant styled after a classic French brasserie,” says Fallen. “We thought it would be a good fit for Charleston.”

The brasserie was a concept Charleston was missing, and Fallen and LeBoutillier adroitly filled that niche. It felt right to chef partner Fred Neuville, as well, who says it was the opportunity to do a restaurant brasserie style—cooking that is all about proper technique, freshness, simplicity, and good pairings—that drew him to Fallen and LeBoutillier. “We clicked. I felt the magic immediately and loved the concept,” says Neuville. “Fred was perfect,” says Fallen. “With a lot of chefs it’s all about their food, but brasserie style has to be correct. There’s no ego involved.”

With Neuville onboard, it was time to hit the drawing board—literally. “The entire restaurant, mentally, was complete before we ever did a thing,” explains LeBoutillier. “The look, the lighting, the menu—we had it all mapped out on a storyboard.”

Each partner brings a considerable amount of expertise to the table. A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Neuville was executive chef at The Butlery Limited in Richmond, V.A., and worked under master chef Peter Schaffraph at the Willard, a five-star five-diamond property in Washington, D.C. “He taught me everything I know about pates, foods from all over the world, even ice carving—we had a great mentor relationship,” says Neuville.

Fallen’s appreciation of food goes back to his childhood in France, and his mother’s love of cooking. “I really got my start in the restaurant business from my parents—they entertained a lot, and we always ate in the dining room.” When his family moved to D.C., he worked his way up at such eateries as Clyde’s Saloon and Palm, and went on to manage the River Café in New York.

Fallen’s talent for restaurant design emerged in Charleston, where he created Elliott’s at the Francis Marion Hotel, and then joined the Planters Inn group as a managing partner. It was here, working up ideas for a new restaurant in the hotel, that he and restaurant consultant LeBoutillier met. The pair developed everything from the theme of the dining room to its name—Peninsula Grill.

In 1999 LeBoutillier, whose track record includes Hank’s in Charleston and Canoe in Atlanta, joined McCrady’s as a managing partner, and after revamping the eatery decided he was ready for a project of his own. “I knew that Andy had always wanted to do a brasserie,” he says. “It was a natural for him given his background.” Like Fallen, he recognized the opportunity present in the Charleston restaurant culture, and thought the concept was a good bet.

LeBoutillier had been eyeing the John Street property, in what was still very much a fringe downtown neighborhood, for about a year. “My friends thought I was nuts,” he laughs, “but I had a gut feeling about the location.” Fallen had lived in New York long enough to understand how gentrification worked and remembers watching neighborhoods grow with restaurants as catalysts. Driven by the high cost of real estate and the willingness to take a chance, they closed on it.

The name, 39 Rue de Jean, followed with characteristic ease. Simple and direct—completely in line with not only their concept, but whole approach to restauranteuring. “We went through a number of different choices,” says Fallen, “and it just seemed like the most natural thing to do. The name says what we are and where we are. Like my partner says, it’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s getting the wheel to come to Charleston.”

Together, Fallen, LeBoutillier, and Neuville have created the quintessential brasserie and a menu with all the bistro standards. “Our vision is a place where you can go and spend $15 for mussels and a glass of wine,” says Fallen, “or enjoy the whole experience—hors d’oeuvres, entree, a cognac and dessert.” From the steak frites to the steamed mussels (of which there are six preparations), there is a soul-satisfying something for everyone, and a multitude of dining experiences.

But before the onion tart arrives or you’ve tasted your shrimp provencal, scallops Saint Jacques or foie gras, you realize you’re in for something special. The Rue de Jean magic begins at the threshold. “My job is to develop everything you see,” says LeBoutillier. “A lot of thought goes into creating the look..” Every detail— from the font on the menu to the stemware, the artwork, exposed brick, and rich, dark woods—is planned to accurately duplicate the model of the original brasseries. Fallen likes to joke when people ask about the interior design of the restaurant. “It’s from a guy who had a café in Paris (Café de Flore) who died about a hundred years ago, and we’ve all been copying him ever since,” he says with a laugh. Joking aside, that time-tested plan was passed on to Charleston architect Reggie Gibson, who helped transform the space into a bistro with a true French feeling.

The layout—a spacious front room seamlessly divided into a variety of seating vignettes—mixes up the environment and makes it exciting and electric. One nook of tables faces John Street for those customers who enjoy people watching, an aisle of booths and tables makes for casual seating near the bar, and across the floor, the arrangement of banquettes and tables encourages both intimacy and neighborliness, whatever your choice. It’s very cool, and very Continental.

The staff is also part of the Rue de Jean magic. “A customer walks in and feels the energy, it’s palpable,” says LeBoutillier. “Our staff likes being here. I think that’s something that’s often missed by restaurateurs. They spend a half million dollars on kitchen design, and forget what’s important.”

Chef Neuville agrees. “I have a great crew, my sous chef followed me, we’ve been together for five years. But the service has to be on both ends, the front of the house and the kitchen.”

The servers, smartly dressed in black with the traditional white apron, are knowledgeable and attentive, anticipating customer needs. “It’s the best combination of efforts I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with, says Neuville. “It’s an amazing thing to watch unfold on a nightly basis.”

Driven to deliver the best from the world of bistro, the restaurateurs keep the menu fresh—seven days a week, lunch and dinner. The plats du jour are true to the brasserie model, and change biannually to reflect the season. “My favorites are the items we braise,” says Neuville. “It’s one of the best techniques because you don’t lose any of the flavors or nutritional value in the dish. There are not a lot of restaurants out there that do it.” Braised and slowly cooked dishes dominate the plats du jour: rabbit in white wine and crème fraiche, short ribs in Espagnole sauce, coq au vin, and a rich bean and duck cassoulet aptly described by staff-member Bruce as French comfort food.

With the novel addition of a sushi bar, the team has all the basic food groups covered. “It was something David had seen in a place in Paris,” says Neuville. “It’s a great alternative, somewhere you can go if you want sushi, and your friend doesn’t.” Presided over by sushi master chef Jonathan Martin, the bar offers a house-cured duck roll in addition to all the standards.

At the wine bar, every bottle from the award-winning list is available by the glass and petit carafe. Fallen, who won Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence for a wine list boasting 925 selections at Simon Pearce Restaurant in Vermont, says now he is happy to have a wine list of 125 wines—one-tenth the inventory and three times the fun. “I’m always looking for additions to the menu, good wines that are a good value.”

Pastis, de rigeur in European cafes, leads the list of cocktails, and Campari, the aperitifs. Single malt scotch, cognacs, beers, sake, and of course Pellegrino, round out the selection of beverages.

Rue de Jean’s success story is good news for Charleston in more ways than one. In the hope of giving back something to the community they love, the restaurateurs plan to launch a fundraising project called CHEF—the Culinary and Hospitality Education Foundation—to provide culinary school scholarships for gifted young people. And a short walk down the John Street alley, the partners are already successful with their second restaurant called Coast, which is big on – you guessed it – seafood. In an open warehouse space with soaring ceilings and a trendy look, Coast is Rue de Jean’s more playful sister, with an open kitchen and a wood-burning grill. The diverse menu brings together dishes from all over the world. “This is about fish tacos, paella, things you might find in Greece or Baja,” says Neuville. “In the coming year,” says Fallen, “we’ll concentrate on making Coast as successful as Rue de Jean. Amid rumors of upcoming ventures, LeBoutillier concurs and adds, “We’ll see where the market takes us in the next year or so,” leaving us with the tantalizing hope of more to come from the restaurateurs.

https://www.holycityhospitality.com/39-rue-de-jean-charleston/