A restaurant built around a single table.
Noire opened in 2016 in a converted print shop on Ashcombe Lane, with twelve seats, a four-burner stove, and a menu that changed every Sunday. Chef and owner Élise Marchand had spent a decade cooking in kitchens across Lyon and New York before deciding the restaurant she wanted to run didn't exist yet — so she built it herself.
What started as a single communal table has grown into a forty-two seat dining room, but the instinct hasn't changed: cook what's good, say no to what isn't, and let the ingredients do most of the talking.
Technique from France, ingredients from home.
Our cooking leans on classical French technique — proper stocks, careful reductions, butter used with intention — applied to ingredients sourced almost entirely within 150 miles of the restaurant. We work directly with a handful of growers, a fisherman on Lake Michigan, and a rancher two hours north for grass-fed beef.
The menu is short on purpose. Every dish earns its place through repetition and refinement, not novelty.
Three ideas that guide every service
Restraint is a skill
A dish with six components rarely beats one with three, cooked correctly. We remove until only what matters remains.
Provenance matters
We know the names of the people who grow, raise, and catch what we serve — and we're happy to tell you theirs.
Hospitality is quiet
Great service is felt, not noticed. Our floor team is trained to anticipate, not perform.
“I didn't want to open a restaurant that impressed people. I wanted to open one they'd think about on a Tuesday, for no reason at all.”— Élise Marchand, Chef & Owner