Eater and the Inquirer’s Michael Klein both interviewed new Le Bec-Fin owner Nicolas Fanucci this week. Here are most interesting facts we gleaned from reading the interviews with the former general manager of the French Laundry.

The Staff at Le Bec-Fin

• Georges Perrier shows up just about every day but will not be involved in the day-to-day of the restaurant when it reopens.
• In addition to Fanucci, executive chef Walter Abrams, pastry chef Jennifer Smith and private events coordinator Shannon Corin all worked at Yountville’s French Laundry.
• Abrams and Smith got engaged during a recent Spanish vacation.

The Space at Le Bec-Fin

• Crystal chandeliers are staying.
• Old City designer John Kelly has been hired to aid in the redesign.
• The look will mark a return to the Louis the XVI colors and design.
• Front dining room being turned into a salon with hard-wood flooring.
• Dramatic doors will separate the salon from the main dining room.
• The hosting podium just inside the door will be gone.
• The eighteen tables of the main dining room will be reduced to twelve.
• The new logo is taken from brass coins found on the doors of Le Bec-Fin (pictured above).
• Downstairs bar will be renamed Chez Georges.
• The downstairs bar will be changed back to a dark wood bar.

The Food at Le Bec-Fin

• $150 tasting menu.
• $55 for lunch.
• Chef Abrams’ will bring the “West Coast sensibility” of working with local farms to Le Bec-Fin.
• Le Bec-Fin classics will be refined, lighter.
• The dessert cart is gone.
• Chez Georges in the basement will serve an a la carte menu of “classic French comfort food.”

The new Le Bec-Fin is slated to open in the first week of June.

More Le Bec-Fin coverage [f8b8z]

What to Expect from the Rebirth of Le Bec-Fin [Eater]
Inside story: Rebuilding Le Bec-Fin [Philadelphia Inquirer]