James Beard Award-winning chef Claude Le Tohic is at work on a massive, four restaurant, six-story monument to French cuisine in Union Square: ONE65, named for its address, 165 O’Farrell. Like projects before it, including China Live and Eataly, ONE65 is an ambitious multi-story, multi-concept layer cake honoring the many elements of a single cuisine. Here’s the plan:
The first and second floors of 165 O’Farrell are to be ONE65 Patisserie, offering pastry, breakfast, lunch and takeout. The third floor, ONE65 Bistro, will be open for lunch and dinner with a menu of “California/French comfort food.” The fourth floor will operate as a cocktail and wine bar, ONE65 Lounge. And the capstone will be a fine dining restaurant, O’ by Claude Le Tohic, with the O’ connoting both O’Farrell and the French word for water. That’s on the fifth and sixth floors, offering skyline views.
Le Tohic departed his last role as executive chef of Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand in 2016 after earning that restaurant three Michelin stars. He reportedly joined up with the Alexander’s Steakhouse team in 2016, who were busy, at the time, taking out permits for the property at 165 O’Farrell, estimating that the cost would be $3,055,000. D-Scheme Studio is behind the redesign of the original French Beaux Arts building.
ONE65’s first and second floor patisserie and third floor bistro are set to arrive in the fall, with the fine dining restaurant and lounge to follow. Stay tuned for much more as the project moves along.