Looking for a nice and interesting breakfast in the Lower East Side, around 9 or 10 o'clock, is a real challenge. We have done that before. Be it upscale Dirty French, Public Kitchen by the celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, or Izakaya Blue Ribbon, all the...choices you usually get are 2 or 3 egg dishes, granolas, oatmeal (if you are lucky) and maybe an avocado toast. Brunches start usually at a later hour, around 11 AM. Les Enfants De Bohème is a happy exclusion. The menu offers you a lot of unusual and exciting choices, such as CROQUE MONSIEUR/MADAME, TARTARE DU BLED (steak tartare), SALMON BURGER, BOHEMIAN CHEESEBURGER, and BOHEMIAN EGGS, just to name a few. All of this in addition to the wide selections of both sweet and savory crêpes (the latters are the traditional Bretonne galette de sarrasin, made with blé noir, gluten-free buckwheat flour and served with mixed green salad).
The prices are very budget friendly, the service is great, and the interior is cozy, inviting, and informal, reminiscent of a non-touristy corner bistro de quartier somewhere in Paris, off the beaten path. That was the intention of the restaurant's owner, the Parisian Stéfan Jonot, known by his previous successful restaurant ventures in the neighborhood.
The restaurant is located on the corner of Henry and Jefferson streets, off the Eastern Broadway, once a hub of the Jewish communal and religious life, with numerous synagogues, small prayer houses (stiebels) of the various Eastern European hasidic groups, and the imposing building of the daily newspaper Forverts (now converted into condos). Starting from the 1980s, the area became a center of the Chinese immigrants from the southeastern China's Fujian province, and was (and still is) known as Little Fuzhou. The crime in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s was rampant (so much for those lamenting the sprawling gentrification), but right now the neighborhood is enjoying a gradual revival.
Please make a mental note, Les Enfants De Bohème is a cash only joint. There is an ATM available on the premises, but better off, just come in carrying some cash on you.
Next door, on Jefferson St., there is a take-out place, Les Enfants Delice, offering some of the spacilaties the restaurants is known for. They do accept credit cards there, with a minimum of $10 charge.
Les Enfants De Bohème used to be a part of Open Table, now the reservations are obtained via Yelp.More