Le Colonial French-Vietnamese Restaurant Signs 15-Year Lease, Returns to NYC Midtown

Le Colonial, the French-Vietnamese restaurant that ran for 26 years on East 57th Street before closing in December 2019, has signed a 15-year lease to return to Midtown Manhattan, this time at 50 West 57th Street in a 9,600-square-foot ground-floor space owned by Vornado Realty Trust and LeFrak. The restaurant is targeting a summer 2027 opening.

The new location, which previously housed Mangia, an Italian fast-casual eatery and market, will seat 215 guests across indoor and outdoor spaces, with a full bar and lounge and private dining rooms. Le Colonial also signed a companion office lease for the building's entire seventh floor to house its New York City operations. Crain's New York reported asking rent at approximately $125 per square foot for the restaurant space.

Founder Rick Wahlstedt, who said he has lived in New York for more than 40 years, framed the return as both personal and strategic. "Le Colonial first opened on 57th Street more than three decades ago, so this neighborhood has always felt like home to us," he said. "Having lived in New York for over 40 years, it feels incredibly meaningful for me to return here with my partner Joe King and bring Le Colonial back to its roots in a new format that reflects how the brand has evolved over the years." The return will also include restaurant proprietor Frederick Lesort as a partner, alongside co-founder Joe King.

Crain's identified this as the brand's eighth U.S. location. Le Colonial currently operates in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Lake Forest, Delray Beach, and Naples. The San Francisco location shuttered in 2024, following the New York closure. Culinary direction will be led by Nicole Routhier, described in press materials as an acclaimed Vietnamese chef and cookbook author, alongside culinary director Hassan Obaye.

Gary Trock of Retail Advisory Services represented Le Colonial in the deal. Jason Morrison, senior vice president of retail leasing at Vornado, led the landlord's in-house team. Trock pointed to the development activity surrounding the site as a tailwind: "There is close to three million square feet of new development that is going on within a stone's throw of this site. This restaurant will just enhance this market and make it better."

Vornado executive Glen Weiss described the signing as confirmation of the corridor's standing, saying it "reaffirms this 57th Street corridor as one of Manhattan's premier dining destinations."

The return carries some weight beyond real estate. Commercial Observer described Le Colonial as "well-known, but controversial," noting that its earlier New York and San Francisco closures came amid accusations that the brand's concept romanticized the French colonial period in Southeast Asia. How the restaurant addresses that history in its promised "new format" will be a question the industry watches when Le Colonial opens its doors again in 2027.