Name: Chez Pascal
Owners: Pascal and Lynn Leffray
Location: 960 Hope Street, Providence
Type of Business: Country French bistro
Year founded: 1993
Number of employees: 20
Annual Revenues: WND
ALL TOGETHER, the owners, Pascal, left, and Lynn Leffray with the sous chef, Richard Allaire, center.
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Nestled among the old Victorian homes of its East Side neighborhood, Chez Pascal restaurant is exactly where owners Pascal and Lynn Leffray want it to be — both literally and figuratively.
Overlooking a park at the end of Hope Street, the 50-seat restaurant is designed to recreate an authentic French bistro. It’s pale stucco walls, ornately blue and green-painted ceiling tiles, and dark paneled bar create an atmosphere of elegance.
But behind the elegance, the couple said, the success of their business is based on a foundation of true simplicity.
”Bistros are not formal restaurants,” Pascal said. “We love everything we do, but we try to keep it as simple as possible; with quality coming first.”
The couple–he is a French native, she is a Rhode Islander– first opened their restaurant in Narragansett in 1993. Though extremely successful during the summer season in South County, after four years, the couple felt that they needed a more year-round location and began searching for a new location in Providence.
”South County was a good start for us,” Pascal said. “But we needed to grow. In the city things are happening year -round; there is always something going on.”
A small dining space along Boston Neck Road and a lack of a liquor license, made it difficult for the couple to provide customers with what they believed was the true dining experience.
”We really wanted to sell wine with dinner,” Lynn said. “It is a perfect match, and Pascal really wanted to chose the wines he thought would complement the dishes he was serving.”
For Pascal, the lack of space was the most frustrating. “We were refusing business on Friday and Saturday nights, and in this business you just don’t want to do that.”
In 1998, the two moved the restaurant to the East Side of Providence, at 960 Hope Street, in space previously occupied by The France restaurant. There, they said they have struck the perfect balance. They spent three months renovating their new space, but did not want to disclose the costs associated with that renovation.
Still drawing customers from the South County area, they now have a wider range of customers, and don’t normally have to turn people away. In addition, the new location also has a small private dining room, which can be rented out for business functions, luncheons, and even small weddings.
One of the couple’s major challenges has been changing the way people think about French food, and French restaurants.
”For a long time French restaurants have gotten a very bad reputation,” Pascal said. “People thought they were expensive, trendy, and snotty. People thought of heavy sauces, and little portions. We have tried to really hard to fight that.”
Pascal said he changes his menu seasonally, serving stews in the winter and more salads in the summer. In addition, he said he has become very conscious of health trends, cooking with little butter, and trimming all of the meats he serves.
He said the restaurant’s unique menu really draws people in. Trained in both France and New York City, Pascal has worked hard to capture true bistro offerings, including lamb, sweet breads, skate fish, duck, and hanger steak. He said his main goal in cooking is to bring out the true flavor of the food.
”We try not to mix too many ingredients,” he said. “I use only three vegetables maximum on each dish, and use fresh basil, garlic and other herbs. The flavors are delicate and you don’t want to drown them.”
Lynn said Pascal also prides himself on finding a use for everything in the recipes he prepares, using leftover meats and vegetables to create soups and other dishes.
”Food and liquor – that’s our profit,” she said. “It’s important that we use everything, and nothing goes to waste.”
The most important ingredient in a successful restaurant, the couple said, is consistency – both with the food and with the service.
”When a customer comes here we want it to be an experience,” he said. “The food is part of that, the service is part of that, and the atmosphere is part of that. You could have the best food in the world, but if you don’t have the other two things, people won’t come back.”
The Leffrays believe they have achieved that harmony, each having specific roles in running the family business. While Pascal runs the back of the house, or the kitchen of the restaurant, Lynn is responsible for the front of the house, the dining room.
”We have definitely learned to tweak,” Lynn said. “I know everything that goes on in the front, and he takes care of the back. We make a good team.”
And though the restaurant is steadily growing in popularity, the pair said there is no chance of expanding again. The 12 to 16 hour days are rewarding, but hard.
”I enjoy the challenges of work,” Lynn said. “But small is good.”
”We of course need a certain number of seats to survive,” Pascal said. “But we like what we do, and we like what we can prepare.”
Reservations are suggested. The restaurant is open for lunch Saturday through Tuesday from 11:30 to 2:30 and serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, beginning at 5:00 p.m.
”We never know what time we will close at night,” Lynn said. “As long as we have customers that keep coming in, we will stay open.”
