Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Shepard Is Opening in Former Chez Henri Space in Cambridge

[Ed note: This article was updated to reflect a name change for the upcoming restaurant.]

A new restaurant that will be "French in spirit" is going to be opening in the space where a landmark Cambridge eatery had been, and the people behind it are from a couple of well-known spots in the area.

The Restaurant Hub blog of The Boston Globe is reporting that chef Susan Regis of the now-closed UpStairs on the Square and Rene Becker of Hi-Rise Bread Company will be opening a new eatery in the former Chez Henri space on Shepard Street (between Porter Square and Harvard Square). The article mentions that the restaurant, which does not yet appear to have a name, will feature seasonal fare using locally-sourced ingredients, with Regis saying that it will be "French in spirit, sort of the way Chez Panisse [an award-winning spot in Berkeley, CA] is French in spirit."

[May 5 update: A License Commission General Hearing page on the City of Cambridge website indicates that the name of the restaurant moving into the old Chez Henri space will tentatively be "Foret."]

[October 27 update: A new License Commission General Hearing page indicates that Foret (which hasn't yet opened) will be called Shepard instead, with a hearing on the potential name change coming November 12.]

[May 29, 2015 update: According to a reliable source, Shepard is going to be soft-opening this weekend for friends and family, with an official opening to the public taking place next week.]

[June 8, 2015 update: Shepard is now officially open.]

Chez Henri closed this past November, though it has recently had pop-up events at Mariposa Bakery in Central Square and will likely be having more pop-ups in the future.

The address for this upcoming restaurant in Cambridge is 1 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138.