Warga, Craig/NY Daily News
M. Wells co-owners Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis at the now-closed M. Wells Diner in Long Island City. The husband-and-wife team are opening M. Wells Steakhouse this week in the neighborhood.
A boundary-pushing Queens restaurant that put the borough on the culinary map is back.
M. Wells Steakhouse, a carnivore’s smorgasbord of beef, seafood, rattlesnake — and maybe even lion meat — will open Thursday on Crescent St. in Long Island City’s quickly developing Court Square.
“We feel like Long Island City needs us and we need them,” co-owner Sarah Obraitis previously told the Daily News.
The dining room of the boundary-pushing eatery will reportedly feature some unusual touches: a concrete trough of live trout and a catamaran boat.
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Canadian chef Hugue Dufour and his wife Obraitis burst onto the city’s restaurant radar when the duo opened the M. Wells Diner in 2010 on a desolate, bleak stretch.
The Québecois-American joint quickly made a name for itself with quirky dishes like the General Tso sweetbreads sandwich and a tripe pan pizza.
A long line of foodies angled for a spot in the diner car, but the restaurant closed within a year after the owners couldn’t negotiate a new lease with their landlord.
“It brought people here as a destination,” Obraitis said. “It actually got people to stay in the neighborhood instead of trekking out to somewhere downtown or in Brooklyn.”
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Dufour and Obraitis quickly resurfaced, opening M. Wells Dinette last year at the Long Island City museum MoMA PS 1.
That restaurant also drew headlines — and outrage for putting horse meat tartare on the menu. The dish was swiftly removed.
But the owners, whose following was built on unexpected flavors and foods, don’t plan to play it safe this time around either, with reports of rattlesnake and lion on the menu.
“They’re the trend-setters of the food scene,” said Jay Soysal, owner of the magazine Edible Queens. “They brought a whole different technique and style of cooking to Queens.”
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They’re also expected to help the local economy.
“M. Wells is one of those sexy, cutting-edge restaurants that bring people to a neighborhood,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside). “The fact that they left for awhile was a real blow.”
Van Bramer believes the steakhouse will draw hipsters and foodies — who will then open their wallets for local businesses.
“They’re going to bring money to the neighborhood,” he said.
M. Wells Steakhouse, 43-15 Crescent St. in Long Island City, wwww.magasinwells.com .
