Mathieu Palombino's Bowery Bistro Actually Named La Gamelle, Not Chez Jef

It looks like Chez Jef, the forthcoming Bowery bistro from Motorino chef Mathieu Palombino, won't actually be called Chez Jef after all. That was the name of the restaurant when Palombino was running it as a pop-up, but once it reopens as a full-blown restaurant, Bowery Boogie reports that the French restaurant will be called La Gamelle. So says the liquor license on file, and so says a French article about the restaurant.The name means "the lunchbox" in French, and also happens to be the name of the long-gone Soho bistro that Keith McNally replaced with Lucky Strike, though whether that was intentional is unclear.

The opening of Chez Jef has been long delayed. It was originally supposed to open this past fall, and then in January, but now it's looking like spring. Palombino has been busy opening an outpost of Motorino in Singapore, and at last report told Eater he was looking to open his French restaurant by April.