About
Le Bilboquet originally opened in New York City’s Upper East Side as a 35-seat hotspot in 1986. Yet each night felt like a special family reunion with regulars and royals, celebrities and chess masters, artists and editors, Euros and Americans. After 27 years of success, the restaurant relocated to a larger space on East 60th Street in Manhattan in October 2013.
In Denver, Philippe Delgrange, founder of Le Bilboquet, has teamed up with fellow restaurateur Rick Wahlstedt, owner and founder of national winning concepts, and partner at the Denver location.
Philippe Delgrange & Rick Wahlstedt
Philippe Delgrange (pictured left)
Philippe Delgrange grew up in Cambrai, France, just north of Paris in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. As a young man of 18, Philippe came to the US in the early 70s and spent years working in a perfume factory and worked other unusual jobs.
By the late 70s, the club scene in New York was starting to take shape and heat up. Philippe got his start in the hospitality business working for what would become the famous Atrium Club. One year later, celebrity night club owner Regine came calling. Eventually, he would leave Regine’s and join one of Madison Avenue most famous French eateries, Le Relais. However, the urge to start his own establishment was too strong and so in 1986, Philippe opened Le Bilboquet on East 63rd with just twenty tables. Today, Le Bilboquet, on East 60th street, has more than one hundred and twenty seats and is considered to be one of the most difficult reservations to get in Manhattan. With partners Ron Perlman and Eric Clapton, Le Bilboquet, is not only a beloved neighborhood French bistro, but a true New York City institution.
Rick Wahlstedt (pictured right)
Rick Wahlstedt is no stranger to winning. As one of America’s most successful restaurateurs, Rick began his career as an internationally ranked professional Squash player. He found his way to New York from his native Sweden during the 1984 World Squash Tour. Playing Squash by day eventually led him to nighttime bartending and so began a 30 year love affair with the restaurant industry. Rick learned the ropes at some of New York’s most famous and enduring hot spots including Indochine and Odeon. His first foray into ownership came in 1987 when he opened Punsch, a French Scandinavian restaurant on the upper west side of Manhattan. With such a rich past working for the McNally brothers, he brought to his restaurant gold standard secrets of the trade. Not surprising, Punsch became wildly successful before closing three years later. But that was just the beginning.
After Punsch, Rick chose to return to his educational roots and joined Jonathan & Foster, a corresponding firm of Bear Sterns as a security broker focused on emerging markets. But during his four year stint in finance, the industry called to him and in 1993, he opened Le Colonial, the French Vietnamese sensation on East 57th street. That success would be duplicated many times over in the years to come.
Sosthene Kabore
Executive Chef
Born and raised in West Africa, Sosthène Kaboré developed his passion for cooking at a young age. His mother would bring cookbooks home from her travels to France and the pair would spend time in the kitchen recreating traditional French recipes together. That experience has since blossomed into a culinary career that has landed Kaboré at several notable French restaurants throughout the U.S.
Prior to cooking professionally, Kaboré initially moved to the States to study architecture at Arizona State University. His infatuation with the culinary arts took off after he moved to New York City and began working as a dishwasher at Choice Market Brooklyn. He quickly worked his way up at some of the most distinguished restaurants in the city, including, Cedric’s, La Villette and Kiwiyana, where he focused and honed his French technique.
Prior to joining Le Bilboquet Denver’s leadership team in 2022, Kaboré helmed the kitchen at Le Bilboquet Atlanta for eight years. Kaboré oversees menu direction unique to the Denver location, focusing on locally sourced, fresh ingredients and classic French techniques.
Adel Bukary
Director of Operations
Adel joins Le Bilboquet family with over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry. She got the "bug" at a young age by working for a family business wholeselling and distributing caviar to top chefs and learning the industry. Since then, Adel has been part of exceptional restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Park City and Denver.
Adel is proud to have been a part of the team that opened Spruce in Park City and earned a Michelin Star for Spruce in San Francisco. After Spruce Adel became the opening GM of a restaurant in Marin County, CA and then came back to Spruce to helm their front-of-house team. Since relocating to Denver, she has held the position of General Manager and Director of Guest Services at Mercantile Dining & Provision in Union Station.
In her spare time, Adel is a certified Barre instructor and to help the Chicago food scene she became an ordained minister to literally marry front- and back-of-house when her friends & former co-workers, a chef and a hostess asked her to officiate... Adel believes in teamwork, even if she has to inflict marriage on them.