By Deborah Lynn Blumberg
Cancan dancers, racing waiters and French cuisine will storm John St. next week in Bastille Day activities hosted by Downtown’s Brasserie Les Halles.
During the Liberty Festival street party, the culmination of the restaurant’s July 4-July 14 celebration of American and French independence, Downtown residents can sample French food, pose for portraits and enjoy the tunes of French and American rock music while watching servers from New York and abroad participate in the animated Bastille Day waiter races.
“The races are a tradition imported from Paris,” said Philippe Lajaunie, owner of Brasserie Les Halles, which has locations in New York, Washington D.C. and Miami.
Though Lajaunie has helped run the festival in New York for the past eight years, this year marks the second celebration Downtown. “Before we were on East 60th St., but last year we decided to bring [the festival] Downtown to help Downtown’s revival,” he said.
This year 15 waiters from Scandinavia, winners of the Stockholm Waiter’s race, will fly from Europe to join New Yorkers in the waiter’s competition. The festival once included only a 15-minute waiter’s race, but in recent years Lajaunie has added a chef’s race, a guest’s race and a children’s race.
“People would come and then boom, like a soufflé going down, the race would be over,” he said. “So we created the others.”
Children from ages 6-12 will race with Les Halles’ famous Frites at 2:30 p.m., wait staff compete at 3:30 p.m., chefs at 4:30 p.m. and guests at 6 p.m. Lajaunie said he will donate proceeds from the suggested $10 race entry fee to a not-for-profit, Best Buddies charity, an organization that helps the mentally impaired develop friendships and find work.
“It’s a very popular and well respected charity that’s often overlooked for other flashier charities,” Lajaunie said. “The public really understands this, and every year [our donations] grow.”
As part of the festival, diners can also try a special “Red, White & Blue” menu at the restaurant’s 15 John St. location, which includes a tuna and tomato tartare appetizer, a codfish, beet and potato entree and frozen parfait dessert. Lajaunie will also donate half the price of these items to Best Buddies.
During the festival, restaurant guests can also participate in daily quizzes and win prizes such as free beer and wine. The Liberty Festival street party will run from noon to 9 p.m. on Wednesday July 14 on John St. between Broadway and Nassau St.
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