Welcome to the Jungle: The Timeless Allure of Indochine
On the magical night that Indochine first opened its doors in October of 1984, Andy Warhol showed up looking like the coolest Hell’s Angel Daddy on the planet.
Although sporting one of his 100 or so signature fright wigs and familiar horn-rim spectacles, Andy upped the va-va-voom that night with a classic thick black turtleneck jumper and a racy leather motorcycle jacket.
He took along his new discovery. The still very much wide-eyed, pre-dreadlocked, Jean-Michel Basquiat sheepishly looked like he’d just left classes at Dalton Prep School to sneak downtown to party with Andy Warhol.
Julian Schnabel was still with his first wife Jacqueline, and Kenny Scharf looked crazier than Caddyshack Bill Murray in a florid patchwork red shirt, an equally garish paisley jacket and chartreuse green pants that clashed with the now-iconic Inodchine wallpaper that opening night.
Almost 38 years to the date that Brian McNally and John Loeffler staged that unforgettable opening night party to debut Downtown’s then hot new restaurant across from The Public Theater, Indochine is still popping!
And still at the height of being the coolest face-place in New York City.
So, there was GW at the bar one breezy summer night a few weeks ago and quickly realized that I couldn’t have chosen a better night for reconnaissance.
Yes, that was Calvin Klein dining with a group of three from Banquette #1.
It was as if he hadn’t left since opening night!
”As soon as Indochine opened we made it our hangout,” he blithely quipped in the eponymous Rizzoli book ‘Indochine Stories: Shaken and Stirred (2009).
And true to form, here was Calvin still causing the room to stir.
The night before, another legend, Faye Dunaway drew admiring glances all night from Banquette #3.
And two nights after that, Christie’s staged a fortuitous boisterous celebration the night before Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn portrait shot to fame as the most expensive 20th Century work of art ever sold at auction.
It just seems that once again Indochine is the place to eat, drink and see and be seen.
So, to say that Indochine remains the coolest restaurant hot spot in New York City, now 38 years on, would be a mere understatement.
It also remains the definitive Downtown stomping ground now for two generations and counting.
Pop Culture historians could do a doctoral thesis on NYC onThe Generation of Cool and not visit anywhere else.
From that opening night in 1984 through their deaths in 1987/1988, the Warhol/Basquiat cabal practically ate and drank and made merry every night at Indochine.
And where Andy went– everyone else followed.
”It’s a fashionable restaurant that has never been subject to the vagaries of fashion.”
Who else but Dame Anna Wintour to sum up the Indochine mystique.
It was Anna and the original ‘supers’ (supermodels) who burnished the legend and the joie de vivre of dinner at Indochine all through the post-Warhol/Basquiat era. When Anna staged the 50th birthday party for her Vogue peer Grace Coddington she made sure that every supermodel in the world was at Indochine to kiss her ring. The ’90s were all about Naomi, Linda, Kate, Kara, Gail, Christy and Stephanie carousing over baskets of Summer Rolls and Lychee Martinis at Indochine.
The red-light district boudoir you feel on entry still sets the mood as you lift off from Astor Place and into that timeless decor and aesthete here, from the Martinique green banana frond applique wallpaper to the classic lacquered aubergine-green banquettes. The rattan furniture and potted palms are still everywhere, as are the exotic staff and the legendary owner Jean-Marc Houmard, who is still very much in his own unassuming fashion — the master of all he surveys. He was the one who led the troika that bought Indochine from Brian McNally in 1992.
Chef Hui Chi Le was a Vietnamese refugee who put down his total life savings to get that lease from Brian McNally in his name and to create the now-signature menu. And the busboy-cum-restaurant manager from Switzerland, who Brian first hired in 1985, found a third investor in Michael Callahan. The astute troika then corralled a franchise now fully certified as one of the most iconic restaurants in New York City.
From the ‘Aughts through the 2010sIndochine was the roost of the celebrated Paris fashion emigre diva Carine Roitfeld and her cabinet. She muscled in and amped up the chic and heightened the snob appeal. And through it all, the Downtown legends like Joey Arias, Amanda Lepore, Dianne Brill, and Susanne Bartsch have made sure to keep the love and loyalty flag flying high. ”It only gets cooler as it ages,” was the fashion designer Anna Sui being prescient from way back in 2009.
Indochine was born with an aura and chic and glamorous celebrity and it couldn’t have a better Daddy to keep her flawless and well-maintained as it does in Jean-Marc Houmard.
He first discovered Indochine in 1985 when his roommate and best friend, Belinda Becker, took him there for the first time.
”It was a revelation!” He is fond of exclaiming.
And clearly, it had to have been because he has remained ever since!
”Indochine is still ripe–like a great movie star,” some blogger quipped online recently.
And now- more than ever– it is once again the hardest restaurant to get a table in Greenwich Village.
So, what better time to celebrate the timeless allure of Indochine.
GW – Don’t you feel like Andy Warhol’s spirit is very much alive and well – still- at Indochine?
JMH – It certainly felt that way last Friday when Christie’s had a big dinner to celebrate his famed Marilyn painting being sold at auction for $195M! Andy was a legend in 1986 when I waited on him on my first week at Indochine (I was in awe), and he’s still a legend now, with his work fetching the highest auction price for an American artist (he would be thrilled!).
GW- It’s truly remarkable that now 38 years later, Indochine still has the buzz and the energy and the air of cool just as it did opening night when Andy and Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Schnabel’s with Kenny Scharf opened what was then Brian McNally’s Indochine.
JMH – I feel very lucky, indeed that, 38 years later, Indochine is still as relevant and buzzing as ever. Whatever it is, something is still working, and all the pieces are still clicking together.
GW – It’s like nothing has changed – even after a pandemic! I was at your bar just the other night and there was Calvin Klein in booth #1 and dining for hours with a few friends. Two nights earlier, Faye Dunaway was holding court too. How do you explain the timeless allure of Indochine?
JMH – I could not pinpoint one element, but it’s a combination of things that still make Indochine appealing, both for people who were at the opening 38 years ago, and for their kids and even grandkids. The new generation that finds Indochine cool as ever. For me, the fact that people in their 20’s who don’t necessarily know Indochine’s history still find the restaurant cool is the biggest satisfaction. And I’m also very thankful to be able to greet legends such as Calvin and Ms. Dunaway in the same week!
GW – For GW the allure began with the ground-breaking diversity of the staff from day one. It’s always been the exotic polyglot of beauties and all well-trained. And you get that and it’s your nurturing way with your staff since you’ve owned Indochine since 1995 that makes this boite still special. Because you were just like them. Brian McNally hired you as a busboy to Indochine in 1986. You then went on to manage the front of the house and by 1992 you were a partner! Remarkable! How did you and your partners {Chef Hui Chi Le and Michael Callahan) pull that off?
JMH – The staff has always been a very important part of Indochine’s DNA: like our clientele, our staff has always been very diverse, from their socio-economic background, their ethnicity, sexual preferences, interests, etc. They wear their own clothes and pride themselves in their sense of fashion and style, but for me, more than anything else, it’s their diverse personalities that make the restaurant special. And yes, I was one of those kids more than 30 years ago! I grew [up] the same ladder as my partners, who also worked at the restaurant pretty much since its inception, and we were very lucky to be given the opportunity to become owners through life’s many meanders..
GW- And where are your partners today? Are they still around?
JMH – I’m usually the one that people see at night, but my partners Hui Chi Le and Michael Callahan are still very much a part of Indochine. We meet regularly during the day and make decisions together. Hui is Vietnamese and works closely with the chef to create new dishes; they’ve been working for months on a new brunch menu, which should debut sometime this summer (a first for us – we had only been open at night for 38 years, so this is a big thing for us, having to show up in the morning!).
GW- Is it true Jean-Marc? Is it true you’ve claimed that the first cue to a restaurant’s success is ”the lighting”?
JMH – Who doesn’t want to look good when they go out? And who looks good in bad lighting? I rest my case!
GW – And is it true your most epic and unforgettable Indochine memory involves Grace Jones? Laugh out loud, so not surprising–so tell us!
JMH – Grace always loved to make an entrance: always very late, but never disappointing! I remember her walking through the room in a giant hooded cape, which she casually dropped to the
floor before sitting down in her booth. The room got silent, in awe! She was also a part of a big benefit for the jungle in 1989 (“Don’t Bungle the Jungle”); the after-party was in the next-door basement nightclub, which belonged to Indochine at the time (Underchine) and she was, let’s just say, having a great time!
GW- The most memorable, iconic, yes, legendary Indochine parties include the Warhol cabal opening night of 1984 that set the imprimatur of cool that Indochine still maintains to this day. And the PR majordomo Nadine Johnson whom you chose to orchestrate the still talked-about 25th-anniversary party in 2009. And Grace Coddington’s 50th birthday party when Anna Wintour made sure every supermodel in the world was at Indochine that night. What’s been another iconic Indochine bacchanal to remember all these 38 years?
JMH – Actually Anna threw another party twenty years later, for Grace’s 70th birthday, and for me that was such a stamp of approval: not many restaurants are able to celebrate birthdays twenty years apart, and such an illustrious birthday at that. More recently Ms. Wintour threw a big dinner for Tom Ford when he became president of the CFDA, and that was another proud benchmark in our history.
GW- To be timeless is to be consistent and the Indochine signature classics
are still on point coming out of that kitchen. From the signature summer rolls to the grilled baby back ribs to the Amok Cambodian filet of sole and my favorite, sauteed rice…
still yummy. What are the must-orders for the next birthday party celebration here?
JMH – The best meals are the ones that are shared: the Indochine experience is about tasting lots of different flavors throughout the meal. I would order a bunch of appetizers, which would include some of the classics that have been on the menu since 1984 – the fried spring rolls, the Vietnamese ravioli, the spicy beef salad – and mix them up with some newer dishes like the fluke carpaccio, the crispy rock shrimp, the Asian kale salad, etc. And I would do the same with main courses: order a bunch of dishes for the table: the steamed seabass, the “shaking” beef, the glazed duck, etc.
GW- I’ve always been surprised however, that Indochine never featured as a setting for some iconic film noir. The room has never been key to a Hollywood film which is kind of surprising. If ever there was a re-make of American Gigolo– Julian Kaye would have to make Indochine his salon and have it as an arc to the script!
JMH – Yes, that would be amazing – although remakes rarely succeed as well as the original versions. Indochine has actually been the set for quite a few scenes in various director’s films (Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, among others) and also in Pose, the TV series that depicts the Harlem Vogueing scene of the late 80’s. And in which, one of the fabulous trans girls got a job at Indochine as a hostess!
GW- Or better yet– Barbara Broccoli your next James Bond– your Bond #26
who ought to be Henry Cavill (#gwsays). The Bond 26 film must have a seminal scene
in Astor Place and the Public Theater and most so Indochine! Get your agent on the case JMH.
JMH – Hahaha! You do the pitch GW!
GW- You moved to New York from where in Switzerland in 1985?
JMH – Yes, it was supposed to be a six-month internship stint in a lawyer’s office, after which I was supposed to move back to Geneva and work in international law. As it was an unpaid internship, I worked at night as a server at Indochine – and here I am, thirty-something years later, still holding court in that restaurant!
GW – And how did you manage to stay alive? After all, here was this tall, innocent piece of fresh meat and new to Manhattan in the middle of an AIDS epidemic. Was celibacy the same case for you as it was for GW? I arrived in New York City the same year as you did but I came from Jamaica. I learned very well the art of celibacy.
JMH – When people think of the 80s they usually forget that, despite all the fun, this was actually a very tragic time, with so many creative people dying one after another. I feel that it was very
much felt as the end of an era: the freedom of the 70s and early 80s when everything was new and exuberant and carefree was over. We all had to adjust to a new reality, where young people were confronted with the mortality of their peers.
GW- And now after surviving a second pandemic how is brand Indochine holding up?
JMH – I think people were really missing their regular fix of spring rolls while we were closed for almost a full year: they couldn’t wait to come back as soon as we reopened, and we’ve been busier than ever since. We also now have beautiful outdoor seating, which we never had before, so that’s one positive thing from the pandemic.
GW – The model agent legend Bethann Hardison once said, ”Whoever did the hiring must have been a casting director.” And that still seems to be the case.
JMH – We don’t cast as a model agency would, but more as a talent casting, where being interesting and nice is more important than mere looks. With the staff, I feel it’s important to reflect what New York is about, with all its diversity and originality. I want my staff to feel like people and not just servers: I always encourage them to be creative in their looks and to be themselves and be personable with their customers. I think guests mostly go back to a restaurant if they are made to feel special by the staff. Of course, the food and the ambiance are very important too, but relationships that get created throughout the years are what this business is really about.
GW – At the height of the last pandemic you took refuge at your chic bed and breakfast property all the way in Nicaragua. Tell us about your Tribal Hotel in Granada.
JMH – I opened a small boutique hotel, Tribal Hotel, with a childhood friend six years ago in the colonial town of Granada in Nicaragua. It has only seven rooms, but it’s been a fun project: we designed everything ourselves, from the hotel itself to every piece of furniture and accessories, which were all locally made. I’m now designing and building villas on a piece of land one block from the hotel. When the pandemic hit New York I hopped on a plane with my dog to Managua, and the very next day Nicaragua stopped all flights in and out of the country. I was pretty much stuck there for the next six months, so I took advantage of that time to design more houses and several pieces of furniture, which kept me busy and creative during that time – an actual blessing in disguise when I look back.
GW – You, most of anyone I know, could write a restaurant memoir – ”The Art of Playing the Long Game” and I wonder how Chapter 1 would open?
JMH – “When things ain’t broke don’t fix them” could be the first sentence of the book! Just keep showing up and do your thing; never take anything for granted; and try to have a little fun along the way!
GW – And you studied law but never practiced law in your life. Is that right?
JMH – That’s correct. I graduated from Geneva Law School with the intention of practicing international law at the UN, but fate decided otherwise for me!
GW- And what’s the latest with the Acme project on Great Jones Street? Is Chef Mads
Refslund still with you?
JMH – Mads is building his own restaurant in Green Point right now and, with my partner Jon Neidich, we turned the ground floor at Acme into a chic piano bar called the Nines, which is currently the Toast of the Town – if I may say! The downstairs Acme lounge is still going strong after ten years of intense partying.
GW – Talk about Indochine Dubai. Who’s this collaboration with VKD Hospitality?
How exciting Indochine Dubai! How often do you visit?
JMH – I was lucky to be introduced to a couple of young men who had partnered up with a friend to open Miss Lily’s in Dubai. I immediately felt that they would understand what Indochine was about, and they indeed got it perfectly. I was there in late 2019 to help with the final touches of styling after construction and I was there for a fab Gucci party for the opening of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant was shut down because of the pandemic just three months after the opening. It’s been hard for them, as Dubai doesn’t provide any safety net for restaurants and the workers, but things have come back to an almost normal stage now: I was there in late January and the restaurant looked beautiful and the crowd was super chic and hip.
GW- If you visit Paris this summer you ought to do some reconnaissance and check
out one of the buzziest spots – Le Maquis and its Afro-French dining.
JMH – I unfortunately don’t get to go to Paris much: when I go to Europe I usually stop by Switzerland to visit my mom and sis, who still live where I grew up, in a small town an hour from Geneva.
GW- Here is another bit of GW genius for you. What you ought to make your next project is to re-create a 21st Century homage to El Internacional which was where you
worked your first job in New York City. You and Serge Becker ought to join forces
and re-create El Internacional! Now that would be an awesome coup de grace!
JMH – “El”, as we used to call it, was a fabulous Spanish restaurant in Tribeca that only lasted two years but that certainly marked the mid-eighties. Its decor, which was created by an artist from Barcelona, was like nothing else – a mix of Spanish sixties glamour and surreal fantasy. With zero qualifications other than a cute European face, I started as a busboy, broke many glasses, partied into the night, and got enough experience to be able to be hired as a server a year later at Indochine.
GW- By the way? Whatever happened to your bestie Athena Calderone? Where is she these days? Tell her #GWsays hello.
JMH – Athena has become a branding powerhouse! My baby sister/muse has grown into her own brand with her design and food blog Eyeswoon, and has two blockbuster books, one on design and one on recipes, under her wings. So proud of her!
GW- Finally! This is for the Downtown Pop Culture history buffs. Please tell them the name of the first– and fiercest maître’d at Indochine?
JMH – Before I even worked at Indochine I went as a patron and there was this amazing-looking maître’d named Masha Calloway: one night I went and she was wearing these silk clown pants and a big chiffon head scarf that went all the way to the floor. I thought she was the chicest person I’d ever seen!
GW- Keep schooling the art of cool Jean-Marc Houmard.
JMH – Tryin’ my damn hardest! Thank you, Mr. GW!
