Le Relais de Venise Marylebone The City Canary Wharf Soho New York Le Relais de Venise WELCOME LOCATIONS EXPAND IMAGE Welcome to Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte For over fifty years at our Parisian restaurant we have offered a unique dining experience where customers come to enjoy just one dish – a green salad with walnuts dressed with mustard vinaigrette followed by steak frites, served with a secret recipe sauce, in buzzy, convivial surroundings. When you dine with us, there is no menu - simply tell your waitress how you would like your steak cooked. After your salad starter, two thirds of your steak is brought to you, with one third held back to keep warm, so you can enjoy it at its best and is accompanied with more freshly prepared frites. There is a small selection of wines to accompany your steak frites and to round off the meal, you can choose from a selection of cheeses and a dessert list with profiteroles, meringue and other ice cream confections. With this simple offering, prompt service and informal atmosphere, Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte is an ideal place to enjoy a quick and inexpensive meal with friends, family and colleagues. We have a policy of no reservations so please note that at peak times you may have to wait for a table. Our Background In 1959, Paul Gineste de Saurs purchased an Italian restaurant called Le Relais de Venise in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, near Porte Maillot with the intention of developing a market for the wines produced by his family's Château de Saurs winery near Toulouse in South West France. Not having had a restaurant background, M de Saurs decided to keep the operation simple: he retained the Venetian décor, added a ‘L’Entrecôte’ sign outside and offered customers a no-choice menu of French bistrot favourites: a salad starter followed by steak frites. Whereas most restaurants served steak frites with herbed butter, he served it instead with a secret recipe sauce containing various herbs, spices and condiments. It was only at the end of the meal that customers were presented with a choice for the desserts and cheeses. Despite offering just a single main dish and a limited selection of wines, the restaurant flourished. It became a Parisian institution with customers ignoring the name and typically referring to it as ‘L'Entrecôte Porte-Maillot’, or just ‘L' Entrecôte’. Eventually, the restaurant's name was changed to Le Relais de Venise – L'Entrecôte. New openings Today, the business is run By Madame Hélène Godillot, daughter of M de Saurs and guardian of the secret recipe for the steak sauce. Mme Godillot oversees new openings to ensure all aspects of this unique dining experience created by her father are faithfully maintained: from the colourful paintings of Venetian scenes that adorn the walls to the waitresses’ much talked about uniforms and even down to the precise width of the hand made frites. As well as the Parisian original, branches of Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte can be found in London and Manhattan