‘Eclectic’ Bistro M. Wells to Close After a Decade
M. Wells, an unconventional bistro awarded a Michelin star three times, will close at the end of the year. Owner Sarah Obraitis and Hugue Dufour are approaching the end of their lease at 43-15 Crescent Street, near 43rd Avenue. Rather than renew, they are extending their lease through the end of the year.
“We will never have another opportunity to have such a long, lovely, awesome goodbye,”
“We will take this time to think about what’s next,” Dufour says. The owners have several events planned over the next few months, including collaborations with other chefs and a block party this fall. First up: a summer cookout on July 14 for Bastille Day. “We will never have another opportunity to have such a long, lovely, awesome goodbye,” Obraitis says.
Dufour, a French Canadian, and Obraitis, a Queens native, opened M. Wells in a former auto-body shop in 2013. (The “M” stands for magasin, “store” in French, and Wells is the middle name of Obraitis.) The restaurant held a single Michelin star from 2014 to 2016. In 2023 and 2024, it was named one of the best restaurants in the city by the New York Times.
For Obraitis, the restaurant has always been an “eclectic bistro,” where she and Dufour served whatever came to mind. The menu changed each day, but it always involved meat. There were wontons with brisket, French onion soup with pork belly, and of course, their burger “des rêves” with foie gras, gruyere cheese, and a slice of potato wedged between the patties.
Before M. Wells, the bistro, the owners ran M. Wells, a diner, which was open in Long Island City for 18 months months. Afterward, they had M. Wells, a “dinette” within the MoMA PS 1 museum. One through-line of the restaurants? Pete Wells of the New York Times said it best: “unrestrained portions and liberal doses of fat and meat.”
Update: July 10, 2024, 2:00 p.m.: This article was updated to clarify that M. Wells is a bistro, not a steakhouse.
