Openings

M. Wells Brings Meat Pies and Frozen Custard to Long Island City

The wholesale Québécois invasion of New York kicked off by poutine and perpetuated by Mile End continues with the July 6 opening of M. Wells Diner, a Long Island City operation run by husband-and-wife team Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis. Dufour, a Canadian, is an alum of Montreal’s powerhouse nose-to-tail restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, while Queens native Obraitis achieved notoriety last December when she brought authentic Montrealer tourtiere to meat pie–hungry New Yorkers.

At M. Wells, housed in an old chrome-sided diner that’s been cleaned out and updated, the duo will serve what they call “Quebeco-American cuisine,” which they tell the New York Times ranges from frogs’ legs to lobster rolls, foie gras tamales, pan pizza, and spaghetti and meatballs cooked in a can. (According to the restaurant’s website, M. Wells offers lunch, dinner, and frozen custard — yay!) Canadian-food wise, tourtieres will be on the menu, but alas, no poutine: “You can’t get the right cheese curds here,” Dufour said.

In a Queens Diner, Cuisine Without Borders [NYT]

M. Wells Diner; 21-17 49th Ave., Long Island City; 718-425-6917

M. Wells Brings Meat Pies and Frozen Custard to Long Island City