Our Story
Chez Josephine is a bubbly return to the joie-de-vivre of Paris of the 1930s – le Jazz Hot with soul. A tribute to legendary entertainer Josephine Baker founded in 1986 by Jean-Claude Baker, Chez Josephine offers a French-American menu and live piano music in an intimate Parisian setting.
This landmark jewel is inviting and romantic with its blue-tin ceiling, red velvet walls and cavalcade of chandeliers that light up vintage portraits of La Baker. Ideally located on West 42nd Street along Theatre Row, Chez Josephine is a magnet for dining before or after the theater; as well as a Hell’s Kitchen haven for a leisurely dinner or quick drink at the bar.
Josephine Baker
Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Josephine Baker (1906–1975) was an African-American dancer and singer who was “the most successful music hall performer ever to take the stage” (Ebony magazine).
Josephine Baker was larger than life: She was the toast of Paris in the 1920s with her trademark banana skirt, a star of stage and screen in the 1930s; a Red Cross volunteer and undercover agent for the French Resistance during World War II; a participant in the 1963 Civil Rights Movement March on Washington; and star of several farewell (and comeback) tours in the 1960s and 70s. Baker adopted 12 children of different races, nationalities and religions, and called them her “Rainbow Tribe,” Baker's utopian dream of multiracial unity
Jean-Claude Baker
Jean-Claude Baker was born Jean-Claude Julien Leon Tronville in April of 1943 in the farming village of St. Symphorien, France. At age 14, he struck out on his own, first to Paris where, as a bellhop in the Hotel Scribe, he met Josephine Baker; and then to Liverpool where he encountered a fledgling rock band called The Beatles. A chance trip to West Berlin eventually led him to open the successful Pimm’s Club, where in 1968 he renewed his relationship with Josephine Baker.
Recognizing a kindred spirit, Josephine began calling Jean-Claude the thirteenth of her adopted Baker’s dozen—the famed Rainbow Tribe—and tapped him to arrange her international comeback tours and sing a song or two between acts. In 1973, Jean-Claude emigrated to America, settling in New York. He became a nightclub singer/emcee and then producer-host of “TeleFrance-USA,” the first French cable television program intended for an American audience. During its seven-year run, it was seen in eight million homes and won two ACE Awards.
Josephine: The Hungry Heart
Jean-Claude Bakers’ devotion to the memory of Josephine Baker, always tenacious, increased as he became the progenitor of her legend—opening Chez Josephine in 1986 and co-authoring the definitive and New York Times best-selling biography of his “second mother,” entitled “Josephine: The Hungry Heart” (Random House, 1994). He is remembered all over the world as the enchanting owner and host of Chez Josephine, which he championed for 28 years.
Purchase a copy next time you visit Chez Josephine!