Madame Chou Chou is looking to next week to debut on Main Street Santa Monica, though more delays are indeed conceivable. Co-owner Erlyne Roestch points to an ongoing construction and the fact that everything is being made from scratch as the primary causes, telling Grub Street she hopes to be open this coming Monday. Roetsch’s parents run several restaurant in her native Paris, but she assures us this bistro and patissere will “not be a stuffy place,” but family-friendly and affordable. What’s going on inside?
A fashion designer by trade, she’s made her own wallpaper for the bathroom by taking photos of friends and distressing them to an eerily accurate vintage appearance, as well as crafted French maid costumes for her waitresses (“we stick the boys in the kitchen,” she joked) and wall fabrics on a breezy patio. And lest you worry about her moody charmer of a restaurant being overrun by Main Street’s frat patrol, she’s abstaining from cocktail service and bouncers.
Everyday French dishes will come together with a few made-by-hand pastas. Beer and wine will provide the liquid courage, while a whole front display will carry house-made pastries like flaky raspberry tarts and fine chocolates. The interior is not quite ready yet, but the combination of dark woods, sensual fabrics, Vampiric romance, and DIY touches already make it very charming and many few notches cooler than anything we’ve seen on Santa Monica’s Main Street in years…if ever. Plus, those French maid costumes should help you deal with any Halloween withdrawal.
Madame Chou Chou, 2518 Main St. Santa Monica. 310-392-2509.
Earlier: Madame Chou Chou Replacing Santa Monica’s Creative Sushi in August [Grub Street]
