The walls of La Côte Basque are windows into the South of France, a fanciful aqua-marine glimpse of the port St. Jean de Luz of the Basque coast. Artist Bernard Lamotte painted the sun dappled murals 47 years ago, honoring diners with his vision of Southern France, giving them the illusion of being away from New York's black tar and steel. As much as it is known for Chef Jean-Jacques Rachou's elegant and traditional French cuisine, La Côte Basque is mostly about ambience, sumptuous decor, and the history within its walls.

As an orphan, Jean-Jacques Rachou was pressed into a culinary career at the very tender age of eight, when he began cooking in his native Toulouse. He then spent the next twenty years honing his skills in the best hotel kitchens of France, Morocco, and Portugal. Rachou became a thoroughly skilled practitioner of his art, mastering the foundations so he could then abstract a little on the execution; he was one of the very first chefs to use squeeze bottles for his sauces, causing quite a stir around his painted plates.

In 1979, Rachou purchased La Côte Basque, taking over from the late and renowned chef Henri Soule. La Côte Basque has long been known as one of New York's temples of gastronomy, a restaurant frequented by movie stars, royalty, and heads of state. In Unanswered Prayers, a hilarious chronicle of scandal in the old guard society of New York, Truman Capote's most famous chapter is entitled La Côte Basque, where gossipy socialites were indulged with black truffles and asparagus.

But while La Côte Basque still maintains its sumptuous decor and haute cuisine, things have changed since Capote's time. Chef Rachou, a self-professed slave to the rent at his 57th street address, was met with a shock this year when his landlord at La Côte Basque refused to renew his lease. At 60, not ready to retire from the restaurant business, Rachou decided to move La Côte Basque three blocks south and into a smaller space. "It would have broken my heart to stop so abruptly," he confessed.

Fully aware that much of the charm of La Côte Basque resided in its whimsical decor -- the very literal history of its walls, Rachou physically took the walls with him to the new restaurant, as well as the dark wooden cross beams, the bar, the carpet and even the revolving door. "At first I told him he was nuts to do this," says Andre Soltner, former chef and proprietor of Lutèce, "now that I see what he has done, I think it's fantastic."

And while Rachou has attempted to lighten the cuisine, translating heavy French cooking to "American with a French accent," nostalgic diners and pampered socialites may still feast upon untouched classics such as Rachou's signature golden soufflés and hearty cassoulet. With its renovated cuisine and its decor transported intact, La Côte Basque is thriving in its new home on 55th street. In the words of New York Magazine's Gael Green, "the crowd is thrilled to see the windows looking out to St. Jean miraculously transported, and to sit again on that fantasy terrace beside the sea."