20-plus-year-old French bistro Le Charm, which was serving fish quenelles in lobster sauce and onion soup to the tech geeks of the dot-com boom back when SoMa was still scrappy, is changing hands and will be closing in August, as Inside Scoop reports today. Owner Lina Yew announced the closing in a letter to customers saying she was passing the restaurant to "the younger generation," and that would be the restaurant's chef of four years, Mathilde Gravel.

Le Charm will be closing on July 31 and reopening on August 21 as Mathilde, with Gravel at the helm, and presumably with an updated bistro menu that doesn't hew quite so closely to the rich and heavy classics — though it's unclear which of the menu's longtime signatures (if any), like its cassoulet, onion soup, coq au vin, and feuille de brick pastry-wrapped scallops with leek fondue might remain. Mathilde will be adding weekday lunch, however, as well as Sunday brunch, reportedly.

Much like the unchanged menu, and as a testament to its history in the late 90's dot-com era, the restaurant's website remains formatted for much smaller, lower-res computer screens, probably not having seen a redesign since 1999.

But one thing that could change are the prices, unless Yew is handing over a long-term lease — many of Le Charm's positive Yelp reviews (it maintains a solid four stars) note the excellent value, with a $35 three-course prix fixe option, and most of the a la carte entrees well under $30. The last time the Chronicle reviewed the place, back in 2001, prices were similarly cheap, and the prix fixe was only $25, and it got two and a half stars.