A popular French restaurant in the West Village will soon serve its last escargot appetizer after the restaurant’s owner retires after more than four decades, Side Dish has learned.
La Ripaille — which has attracted celebrities and Francophiles since 1980, long before the neighborhood became trendy — is up for sale along with the building that houses the restaurant at 605 Hudson St., the chef-owner said in an exclusive interview Alain Laurent. .
“It’s time to pass the torch,” explained the 70-year-old Frenchman. “Running a restaurant for 44 years is tiring.”
Over the years, Laurent’s famous guest book has been signed by a celebrity.
Leo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway and Sylvester Stallone, football legend Pelé and Baseball great Derek Jeter, pop star Madonna and author Salmon Rushdie have squeezed into the quirky restaurant, which features 14 tables with around 40 seats.
The name, La Ripaille, comes from an old French expression, “faire ripaille”, which means to celebrate. And that’s what diners did in dishes that included Laurent’s original creation – broccoli mousse.
Other divine menu options include traditional cassola, scargots Laurent’s way – from a shell with basil, cream, tomato and butter – along with wild mushroom flambé in cognac under a pastry puff, ravioli de homard, branzino with ginger and, of course , filet mignon au poivre et frites.
But the day-to-day grind of running the busy restaurant took its toll on Laurent and his family, he said.
“I was in the restaurant six, seven days a week and on all holidays, including Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, and now I would like to have a different version of my future with my wife my children and mine [seven-month old] nephew,” Laurent said.
“I had hoped my children would take it on, but they saw the sacrifice it took and said they never would.”
Laurent began his career in banking. But after his brother followed his then-girlfriend to New York, Laurent came to visit. He loved French food, so he started working in French restaurants – first as a busboy, then as a waiter.
“It was very exciting,” Laurent said. “Then I thought, if I can work for someone else, I think I can do it for myself. I was with my brother. We started looking for a place. When we found this, I said, “This is it!”
The West Village was a different place when Laurent first opened La Rapaille, with the nearby Meatpacking District run down and filled with prostitutes.
The restaurant slowly gained a following through word of mouth. Then came the comments. The first was from New York magazine and they went from there.
He bought the five-story building that houses the restaurant, along with 10 rental units above it, for $900,000 in 1986.
Now, Laurent has put the 10,124-square-foot property on the market for $17 million, according to his brokers.
Laurent’s neighbors have included billionaire Mets owner and hedge fund titan Steve Cohen, who lived in a triplex next door at 607 Hudson Street before selling it for $30 million in 2019. (It sold again for $33.5 million dollars in 2021.)
Bravo’s Andy Cohen lives nearby and is often seen dining at La Rapaille with his BFF, Sarah Jessica Parker.
Whoever buys the building will get a prime West Village mixed-use building across from Abington Square that’s also close to Google headquarters and Hudson River Park, as well as art galleries and the Whitney Museum.
“I think it would make a great private members’ club,” said Laurie Cooper, who is co-brokering the listing along with Daniela Rivoir and Michael Cooper, all of Douglas Elliman.
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