Former Obama White House Pastry Maestro Opens a French-American Bistro on the UES

Pastry maestro Bill Yosses, best known as a former White House chef for Barack Obama, has opened an all-day French-American bistro on the Upper East Side.

Palais by Perfect Pie is the pastry chef’s first standalone restaurant following his popular pie-focused pop-up Perfect Pie and a stint at the now-closed, controversial Four Seasons Restaurant revamp. The new restaurant at 134 East 61st Street, between Lexington and Park avenues, serves French fare like a roasted duck breast with lavender and peppercorn gastrique, as well as American bistro items like grilled flatbread pizza and a burger.

Palais is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; in the morning, pastries and coffee are available, and brunch options like avocado toasts, a mushroom omelette with raclette cheese, and a croque monsieur arrive on weekends. See the menus below.

Yosses’s celebrated pies also make an appearance, with favorites from his online shop now available on site. Those include apple, blueberry, peach, and chocolate pies, as well as savory options like quiche, chicken pot pie, and beef Wellington.

The restaurant is a partnership between Yosses, his husband Charlie Fabella Jr., and business partner and pastry chef John Wu, who previously worked with Yosses at Citarella and at Joseph’s in Rockefeller Center.

It’s a bi-level space that seats 75. Though they’re still waiting on a liquor license, plans are to convert the front of the restaurant into a bar once it comes through. For now, Yosses and general manager John Fanning, who most recently worked at Hakkasan, have created an alcohol-free menu including TÖST sparkling white tea with ginger and cranberry, Champagne tea kombucha, mocktails, and de-alcoholized wines.

Palais by Perfect Pie is now open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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