dining out: Bonne Vivre on Upper King

At 39 John Street, behind a wall of plate-glass windows, a zinc bar catches low light, and the low hum of good conversation rises toward a pressed-tin ceiling. Opened in 2001 inside a two-story brick warehouse built in 1880 for the Charleston Manufacturing Company, 39 Rue de Jean helped lead the charge to transform Upper King Street into a dining destination. Part of the Holy City Hospitality group, alongside Victor's Seafood and Steak, Virginia's on King, Vincent Chicco's, Charleston’s Smallest Bar, and Coast Bar & Grill, this French brasserie has earned its provenance the old-fashioned way, one dinner service at a time.

Vintage mirrors, bar stools, and varnished café chairs flesh out the room. Milk-glass globe pendants drop low over dark wainscoting. Deep burgundy leather banquettes line the walls in tufted rows, and exposed brick arches punctuate the space beneath a mezzanine rail. Behind the bar, a gold-lettered sign flirts openly with the room—Ooh Là Là!—a wink of Parisian mischief tucked among the bottles. The space borrows the bones of an old-world café, with an undeniable bonne vivre. Outside, bistro tables and red umbrellas spill onto the sidewalk, a nod to the Huguenots who first carried French culture to Charleston's streets.

Executive Chef Letha McClary, a Kingstree, South Carolina native, learned to cook at the stove alongside her father and grandmother. A 2018 graduate of the Art Institute of Charleston, she started as a line cook at 82 Queen under chef Marcus Shell. When Shell moved to Rue de Jean in 2022, she followed, rising to executive chef in 2024.

"My food philosophy is guided by ingredients; the season is the reason," she says. "I believe great food is familiar enough to create an emotional connection but refined enough to offer something unexpected. I try to blend French techniques with the ingredients, traditions, and hospitality of the Lowcountry."

The kitchen keeps two distinct registers. Lunch/brunch runs daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dishes out casual brasserie fare. There are a few additional dishes on the weekend brunch menu. Dinner, from 4 p.m., leans into French classics reworked for the Lowcountry: trout almondine, coq au vin, steak frites (a choice of 6-, 8-ounce filet, or a 12-ounce New York strip, dressed up with add-ons like crab and béarnaise or truffle butter), escargot in brandy, garlic, and parsley butter, chicken à la française, shrimp Provençal, and wild-mushroom pappardelle in roasted-garlic cream sauce.

Before entrées, sample hors d'oeuvres: escargot in brandy, garlic, and parsley butter; a warm cheese fondue with fried parsley; crispy veal sweetbreads over wild mushrooms and black garlic. A rotating charcuterie board and an artisan cheese selection round out a menu built for lingering over a bottle (or three).

Mussels, offered in six preparations, from marinière to Provençal, pistou, red curry, bacon and bleu, and vegetable cream, are the kitchen's calling card and are half-price on Tuesdays. "Everyone loves the mussels," McClary says, steering first-timers toward the traditional marinière. Steak tartare arrives house-cut with creamy Dijon, quail egg, and crostini. Seared scallops come dressed in sweet corn velouté, honey applewood ham, and charred okra. The trout almondine sources trout from Sunburst Trout Farms in Waynesville, North Carolina, one of several purveyors McClary relies on alongside Limehouse Produce.

McClary is meticulous, so as not to disappoint regulars who return for a familiar plate, she slightly tweaks classics rather than reworking them outright. Her duck cassoulet features shredded duck and rice, extra broth added until the French classic edges toward a Creole gumbo.

As the leaves crisp in the air, fall creeps into the menu in the form of heartier fare: Brussels sprout and apple salad, apple-stuffed quail with herb risotto, and a crumble aux pommes for dessert (order with a side of vanilla ice cream). Onion soup and mashed-potato-laced coq au vin call for cooler weather. "When it's fall and winter, we do things a little heartier and heavier," McClary says.

Cocktails are classic, with a twist, including a French 75 built on Twelve 33 JoJo gin, a Pimm's Cup with cucumber and mint, a Criss Cross Cadillac finished with a cinnamon-sugar rim, and an Artisanal Smash with peach nectar and mint. The wine list runs deep into French and California bottles, from Burgundy pinot noir to a Bordeaux cabernet blend, with ten selections available by the glass. There’s a rotating seasonal draft and a solid non-alcoholic lineup.

The appeal of 39 Rue de Jean lies in its age: a restaurant old enough to have earned its patina, and an experimental kitchen that consistently innovates French classics.