Balthazar

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Balthazar is a French brasserie restaurant located at 80 Spring Street (between Broadway and Crosby Street) in SoHo in Manhattan, in New York City. It opened on April 21, 1997, and is owned by restaurateur Keith McNally. McNally joked that the best offer he had received for a reservation was to not break McNally's legs.McNally also owns Pastis, Cafe Luxembourg, Lucky Strike, the Russian-themed bar and restaurant Pravda, Odeon in Tribeca, and Schiller's Liquor Bar on the Lower East Side. Balthazar Bakery was later opened, at 80 Spring Street.McNally opened Balthazar in the theater district in Covent Garden in London, in February 2013. Balthazar London will reside within a building known as The Flower Cellars, sharing the space with The London Film Museum. General manager will be Byron Lang.DescriptionAmong its dishes are steak au poivre, steak frites, short ribs, beef stroganoff, duck confit, butternut squash, skate, and French onion soup (of which the brasserie serves 15 gallons daily). Balthazar typically serves around 1,500 guests a day, and by the far the most popular dish is steak frites; the restaurant can sell 200 per day, and out of the 200-odd employees, two full-time prep cooks are required just to handle potatoes for frying. It is also known for its raw bar. The head chef is Shane McBride, who was preceded by Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr.