Lumiere coming from The Liberty partners

Formal French dining -- can it make a return to Charlotte? Matthew Pera and Tom Condron think so, and plan to open Lumiere in the fall, in the Wolfman-Pizza-turned-Einstein-Bagels spot by the Myers Park Harris Teeter, at 1039 Providence Road.

"There's really no upscale French anymore," said Pera, who with chef Condron opened The Liberty, a South End gastropub, after both had worked in finer dining venues in and out of town. (Pera had GM'd the French Marais, for one thing, and the British Condron had been exec chef for the Harper's group, and has cooked with Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud and Jean-Louis Palladin, among other French stars.) Both recall the Charlotte era of Marais, Pastis, Patou and Etienne's Townhouse. "You had all these really good French restaurants, and now? Not so much," said Pera.

"We want to do a real fine dining (French restaurant). Tom will be able to touch every plate at 55 seats... We really want a real French restaurant where you can really feel special... We feel like things aren't 'back,' but at 55 seats, we can really put the spotlight back on French food."

Wagner Murray will do the design of the new space, Pera said. Expect dinner only with entrees $25 to $35, and a menu that's about "65 to 70 percent" modern, "the same way Le Bernardin or Eleven Madison Park are modern; we're not taking test tubes to the table." The place will have some old school French dishes, because "that's fun," and will do dinner-only at first, perhaps adding Sunday brunch. Wines will be mostly French, with some California and old world additions. Web: www.lumieremyerspark.com.