‘ECLECTIC’ STEAKHOUSE M. WELLS TO CLOSE AFTER A DECADE
M. Wells, an unconventional steakhouse 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. The last day is December 31.
“We will take this time to think about what’s next,” Dufour says.
For the next few months, the owners have several events planned, including collaborations with other chefs and an annual block party this fall. One party starts on Sunday, July 14, with a summer cookout inspired by 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 is an “eclectic bistro,” where she and Dufour served whatever came to mind. In recent years, that often meant meat. There were wontons with brisket, French onion soup with pork belly, and of course, the burger “des rêves” with foie gras, gruyere cheese, and, separating the patties, a slice of potato.
Before M. Wells, the steakhouse, the owners had M. Wells, the diner, which opened in Long Island City and closed 18 months later. Afterward, they ran M. Wells, the “dinette,” from within MoMA PS 1. 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.”