How to book Le Bernardin

Le Bernardin began in Paris in 1972, when siblings Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze opened a small restaurant that served only fish, and they brought it to New York in 1986¹. After Gilbert died in 1994, Eric Ripert, a friend of his, took over the kitchen, with Maguy Le Coze staying on as co-owner; the guiding idea is that the fish is the star of the plate¹. The New York Times gave it four stars three months after it opened and it has kept that rating through six reviews¹. It holds three Michelin stars² and placed No. 13 on North America's 50 Best Restaurants for 2026³.

The dinner menu is a four-course prix fixe at $225, laid out in sections headed "almost raw", "barely touched" and "lightly cooked"^4,3. There is also an eight-course Chef's Tasting at $350 per person, or $530 with wine pairings⁵. Michelin notes that the large choice of dishes means guests are not pushed into a long tasting menu².

A 2011 redesign by Bentel & Bentel added a lounge with its own menu for the first time, and it won a James Beard Award for restaurant design in 2012¹. Wine director Aldo Sohm, who joined in 2007, runs a cellar of about 15,000 bottles with 900 selections from 12 countries⁶. The restaurant serves lunch on weekdays and dinner Monday to Saturday, and is closed on Sundays; jackets are recommended, and children under ten are not admitted⁷.