Longtime locals will recall the heady latter days of the dot-com boom when Le Colonial was one of the absolute hottest tickets in town. Back then, the Tiki-cool environs of the original Trader Vik's on an alley near Union Square drew in a young and cocktail-swilling crowd, and the French-i-fied food of colonial Indochina impressed critics and young tech workers alike. Fast-forward seventeen years, and the place still has some atmospheric charm thanks to the shuttered windows, antique tables, ceiling fans, and rattan furniture, but it's become the tourist trap that most of the restaurants in the neighborhood are, relying on pupu platters, DJ nights, and over-sweet drinks to get by.

French expat chef Laurent Manrique is looking to change all that, as Inside Scoop reports, and return the restaurant to its former glory — and the closest anyone has come, per a Bauer review, was ten years ago when onetime Lulu chef Mike Yakura was briefly at the helm. It's had many management and chef changes since then, but now the owners have enlisted Manrique as a consultant to revive the French Vietnamese menu, which will be happening under executive chef Brian Bowen, whom Manrique has hired to start work today, September 1.

The new menu will be taking shape over the next couple of months, but here are some hints: a mashup of Vietnamese pho and French pot-au-feu served tableside; and for dessert, a spin on riz au lait (rice pudding infused with lemongrass, coconut and basil.

Fans of the current, mostly Vietnamese menu, should say goodbye while they can.