It’s hard to say whether Bar Bianchi, a new restaurant from Golden Age Hospitality—the same group behind The Nines and Le Dive—is better during the day or the night. In the afternoon, the café-style windows are thrown open as its bistro tables spill out onto the sidewalk, ready to hold gigantic Aperol spritzes in burgundy glasses. But after dark, its red and green neon sign casts a glow onto East Houston Street as negronis fly from its zinc and Formica bar, akin to a scene from Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City. “Bar Bianchi is inspired by the piazza culture of Italy, and all these cafés and bars where you drink inside or sit outside,” Golden Age Hospitality group founder Jon Neidich tells Vogue. “The energy between the outside and the inside kind of flows in and out.” Neidich, along with his creative director Andrea Johansson and longtime collaborator Sam Buffa, was inspired by classic Milanese haunts like Bar Luce (which is owned by Prada), Bar Jamaica, and Bar Basso—“amazing places that only really exist in Europe, where you have this old world place that’s stayed relevant,” he says. Indeed, hung on the walls are vintage Italian posters and the floor is composed of alternating rust, black, and white tiles; walls are painted with a faint green Venetian plaster. It feels all very ’20s and ’30s, until you get to the lights—space-age style scones and a 1960s hanging fixture serve as Italian modernist accents, an homage to Milan’s most famous design movement. Much of the menu, overseen by chef Nicole Gajadhar, is focused on the antipasti that are the staple of aperitivo culture: think crisp fried zucchini, burrata with roasted peppers, prosciutto and melon, and fried stuffed olives. But a full dinner awaits if you wish, with dishes like a veal Milanese for two and rigatoni with a pink sauce and rigatoni with sausage, peas, and pink sauce. (Neidich named it “Rigatoni di Nash,” as it is the favorite pasta of his young son, Nash.) And you may want to drink your dessert. The cocktail program, by Cody Pruitt of Libertine, offers a sgroppino—a drink with vodka, prosecco, and sorbet from Hallie Meyers’s Caffè Panna. On a late April afternoon in the East Village—arguably the first real day of spring in New York City—painters stood outside Bar Bianchi, applying their final coats. Soon, a crowd of passers-by began to stop, their curiosity piqued for the New York summer ahead.
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Fizzy, complex, and an absolute joy to sip. As a tea-drinking wine lover (or a wine-loving tea drinker?), discovering sparkling teas has been a revelation. Post-lockdown, the drinks sector has witnessed significant growth in the realm of low and no-alcohol offerings, driven, in part, by Gen Z’s dwindling interest in imbibing alcohol. Amid the spiritless spirits and a bevy of alcohol-free wines, ciders, and beers, luxury sparkling teas are comfortably the most exciting emerging trend in the low and no-alcohol sphere. These elegant, lavishly layered beverages are carving out space as an alternative to a celebratory bottle of bubbles—whether you enjoy the odd tipple or not. If your approach to building healthy habits includes eschewing alcohol, sparkling teas are among the most attractive options for extending Dry or Damp January to the rest of the year. The many benefits that follow curtailing one’s alcohol intake are well-known: improved sleep and a glowier complexion, reduced risk of cancer and heart disease. But it’s the wealth of antioxidants in polyphenol-rich tea that set it head and shoulders above its competitors. Luxury sparkling teas represent an entirely new expression of the much-loved cuppa. Given their highly polished, multifaceted profiles, it comes as no surprise that sparkling tea has Michelin-starred origins—the brainchild of one of the world’s top sommeliers, no less. Award-winning sommelier Jacob Kocemba first looked to tea as a solution to a pairing quandary. His head chef made a last-minute menu change, and none of the wines in Kocemba’s expansive cellar quite fit. The solution? He turned to tea. “I just needed something to get me through the night,” he explains. Like an alchemist, he combined several artisanal teas to create a one-of-kind homebrewed beverage. The pairing proved popular. “It became a thing that I should do something to pair with the dessert for each new menu. And that was built on tea,” says Kocemba. The opportunity to add a signature sparkle first arrived in 2011—but it wasn’t until 2016, when Kocemba joined forces with Bo Sten Hansen, that the first sparkling tea company materialized. Today, the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company’s blends are found in over 150 Michelin dining rooms across 55 countries. Natalie Chiu, co-founder of Saicho, arrived at sparkling tea from a consumer’s perspective. A passionate foodie with a lifelong intolerance to alcohol, the Hong Kong-born Chiu felt she was missing out. “I could never have the full experience of wine pairings with my meals,” she says. “This was back at the time when alcohol-free options weren’t around.” Looking for a different option, and drawing on both her love of food and her background in food science, Chiu and husband Charlie Winkworth-Smith, tasted hundreds of teas and blended botanicals until they arrived at their inaugural teas: jasmine, Darjeeling, and hojicha. “It was a journey of discovery for me being Chinese, and not knowing too much about my culture and heritage and weaving that through,” Chiu adds. “And we always maintained the concept of that inclusivity in the experience of food and drinks.” (Her background in food science has clearly served her well—the Saicho sparkling teas are a study in harmony and purity of flavor.) For any high-end sparkling tea producer, quality is paramount. For Kocemba, “It has to be a tea garden that is organic, that meets the European standard for tea, then of course it has to be tasty as well.” The sommelier-turned-master tea brewer selects premium teas from regions like Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal, Japan, and top Chinese tea gardens in Fushin and Guangxi. The latter is where Kocemba sources his prized Silver Needle, the world’s finest white tea, used in his Lyserød blend. Harnessing the rich tapestry of flavor profiles found across tea, independent producers like the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company and Saicho craft expressive cuvées that rival your favorite bubbles in complexity and depth, providing a tapestry of flavor and that palate-prickling effervescence we associate with good times, better company, and a flute of Champagne in hand. With the IWSR projecting a 7% growth in the no-alcohol category by 2027, it seems natural that names like Fortnum & Mason and venerable wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd are also jumping on the trend. In pursuit of the best possible product, Kocemba hand-brews all the teas so he can control temperatures and how long the tea brews before blending. “When I build a flavor, we have to bear in mind, I come from the wine world,” he says. “My way of tasting different varieties is based on how I would approach a wine. I work with the attack, the middle palate, and then the aftertaste. All three different items are very important to creating a complex tasting experience.” At Saicho, Chiu prefers cold brewing. “When you hot brew, you generally have a much shorter time in terms of the brewing process and you extract very different flavor profiles," she says. Cold brewing allows her to extract the flavor components while preventing too much astringency from creeping in and gives the flavors time to settle. Like coffee, chocolate, and, most famously, wine, tea holds a sense of place. As they tasted hundreds of teas from tea gardens across China, India, and Japan, Chiu and Winkworth-Smith marveled at the differences not only between tea gardens but different plots. They decided single-origin teas were the way forward for Saicho—and like the world’s great wine crus, these bubbly brews effortlessly speak of the soils and climate they were grown in. Whether you’re coming from the world of wine or exploring new avenues in tea, Chiu’s focus on terroir and Kocemba’s artful blending make their sparkling teas a natural pairing with a variety of cuisines. How to Pair Sparkling Tea With Food Creating complementary food and drink pairings is an art. “Sparkling tea can start a meal and it can finish it,” explains Kocemba, much like sparkling wine. “It’s very good as an aperitif, it’s very good with hors d’oeuvres or charcuterie.” He notes the style’s affinity for Asian flavors, sushi, and shellfish, as well as spicy dishes, a fact echoed by Chiu. “One of my favorites at the moment is pairing jasmine with spicy noodles,” says Chiu. “I love putting it with a little chili oil so whenever I make a stir fry or noodle or udon, I add Chinese spices and pair it with the jasmine.” She’s right—the pairing is gorgeous, reminiscent of a Riesling. At the denouement of a meal, try a cheeseboard or cheesecake if you fancy something sweet. Their richness from the fats is the perfect foil for the bright acidity and subtle umami in sparkling tea. How to Serve Sparkling Tea Occasion-wise, these luxe alcohol-free bubbles suit any event where you might pop a bottle of Champagne, but their versatility invites them to the table whenever, wherever. Chill sparkling tea a tad colder than sparkling wine, about 41 to 45°F (5 to 7°C). Serve in flutes—or better still, all-purpose white wine glasses to unlock the full complement of aromas and flavors. 6 Luxury Sparkling Teas for Any Occasion Saicho Darjeeling, $20: Featuring a delicate Darjeeling flavor (appropriately known by the moniker “the Champagne of teas”) supported by notes of mandarin, stone fruit, ginger, and muscat. Lyserød, $30: A sparkling tea for the rosé or red wine lover. Blended from Silver Needle, Oolong, blackberry, and hibiscus, this salmon-pink blend offers notes of ripe red berries and apples with a drier, more tannic profile. Fortnum & Mason Organic Sparkling Tea, $30: Layers of fruit and white floral notes mingle with Darjeeling, lemongrass with a hint of mint in this crisp, graceful organic sparkler. Jing Jasmine Pearls, $31: Green tea from the Shekou Garden, Fujian, laced with heady jasmine. Delivering on the promise of beautiful floral notes expertly balanced with crisp pomaceous fruits and a touch of honey. A perfect dry option. Saicho Sixty Stone Mountain, $71: A treasure trove of tropical fruits ranging from mango to pineapple layered with stone fruit, Meyer lemon, and ample honey. Lysegrøn, $37: Based on 12 green teas, Kocemba calls the Lysegrøn “the bridge between the tea world and the wine world.” Bright citrus notes, lemongrass, and apple with the signature Sencha aroma and flavor.
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Lucky Blue Smith has a confession to make on behalf of his wife, Nara Smith. “Fun fact. When Nara is filming her videos—the entire side of the kitchen that is out of the frame is full of dishes [and] crusted dough that I have to soak for five hours,” he says, laughing. The model would know…because he’s the one who cleans it up. “I’m so grateful,” she says back, with a smile. In the latest video for Vogue’s Now Serving series, where celebrities make their signature dishes on camera, the Smiths give us the rundown on how to make a crispy chicken sandwich and rosemary mint lemonade. True to their TikTok reputation, every element—including the brioche buns—is made from scratch. (And may soon be homegrown: the couple shares that they’ve started cultivating a garden at their new Connecticut home. “We just bought a house—so hopefully next spring,” says Nara.) The couple playfully banters throughout: like when Nara makes fun of Lucky for his obsession with drinking Brillo pickle juice. (“There’s no shame in it!” he counters.) Or when the couple tells a story about what happened when Lucky tried to cook more around the house. “We just had a baby a year ago. He told me he would cook for me,” Nara says. “One day, I wake up from my nap at four to the smell of intense burning.” Lucky, sheepish, gives a shrug, before Nara continues: “The smoke alarm went off, the baby woke up!”
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When chef Flynn McGarry needed to source 15-foot-long tables for his Copenhagen-meets-California café and grocery Gem Home in NoLita, he put down his spatula and picked up a saw. The result? Four perfectly imperfect red oak tables, custom-built to fit the space just right, even with the slight slant to the former olive oil factory’s original floors. It wasn’t McGarry’s first time picking up a hammer, nor does he think it will be his last. “There’s actually a photo of me as a one-year-old on a ladder, nailing in a two-by-four,” he says, noting that he made six cherry wood communal tables for his first restaurant, Gem Wine, which he opened when he was 19. “My father always makes the joke that I’ve actually been doing construction longer than I've been cooking.” “It's such a satisfying process,” says McGarry, adding that he’s currently sitting at a table he built. A chef who has an affinity for woodworking might seem like a rarity, but it turns out that McGarry is in good company. As the world of food and design knit closer together, a new generation of chefs from Los Angeles to London are giving a new meaning to “farm-to-table”—and are taking the design of their restaurants into their own hands by making their own furniture. What’s behind the trend? One could look at diners’ increased awareness of food systems, furthered by initiatives like Slow Food and the Michelin Green Star, that are driving people to choose restaurants that prioritize sustainable practices. There’s also a growing appreciation for craft objects and fine furniture, arguably spurred on by all that time spent at home during the pandemic. The Chippendale International School of Furniture, a renowned furniture-making and design school in Scotland, has seen a 5% increase in students each year for the last five years, while the online furniture and antiques marketplace,1stDibs, reported that furniture orders were up 20% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same time period in 2019. Even more recently, Pinterest has seen searches for “home decor inspo” increase by 489% over the last year. With these two movements happening in tandem, it’s no surprise that restaurants are finding that the best seat at the chef’s table is at the table that the chef made themselves. Multiple Michelin-starred chef Jordan Kahn, who founded Los Angeles-based Meteora and Vespertine, sees design as crucial when creating a restaurant. “My wife actually likes to call me the art director of our group, and then also the chef,” says Kahn. Over the course of several days, using ferrocement and chicken wire, Kahn hand-sculpted the entire bar at Meteora, as well as a custom shell-shaped seating area for his chef’s table made of a 200-million-year-old Selenite crystal. These organic-feeling elements, coupled with 700 varieties of plants, help transport diners to a time millions of years ago. Kahn sees the restaurant’s decor as essential in driving his greater mission to connect people back to nutrition. “The way a restaurant feels is really important—not just to inspire people to think differently about what eating actually is and what it means to them, but also to try to influence other restaurants and chefs to adopt the same ideology,” he says. For this generation of chefs, the restaurant only begins in the kitchen. “The food, the design, the furniture, the music, the sound, the fabric that we wear—everything is part of this world that we built,” said Kahn. “Environment must be a huge part of the experience, because it shifts our context, which then changes the way we approach eating.” In Edinburgh, Henry Dobson, owner of newly-opened fine-dining restaurant Moss, also takes sourcing his ingredients incredibly seriously—so much so that he used the wood from a windfallen lime tree on his family farm for his tables. “The goal of Moss really is to shorten the supply chains of our farm and to eventually source everything from one place,” he says. Dobson found that having a constraint made him more creative. “I didn’t want anything that wasn’t a natural material in the space,” he says, and using the wood he had on-hand reduced decision fatigue around design choices. “I didn't have a choice between oak or maple or beech.” Ed McIlroy, the talent behind Tollington’s (the North London Fish Bar where Alexa Chung recently hosted the launch of her Barbour edit) practices a similar philosophy when it comes to food and furniture. “I like working within parameters—working with a little to create a lot,” he said. In Tollington’s, he repurposed 18th-century church pews as the ledges in the main bar and found a new use for a former school bench (still marked with doodles and obscenities) as a kitchen hatch and a sink stand in the bathroom. It’s worth noting that making furniture is not only a creative exercise, but can also be a cost-friendly one. “For our price point, my philosophy has been that I’d rather spend money on nicer wood that lasts longer,” says McGarry. “You can either buy nicely made, cheap material tables or you can buy expensive wood and figure out how to make it yourself.” In this way, Flynn follows the same philosophy in his cooking as he does with design. “I would say most of my job in cooking is sourcing—we’ve never skimped on the quality of the raw product,” he says. In the fall, McGarry is set to open the fine-dining restaurant Cove in Manhattan, his biggest project yet—and while he can’t give away too much right now, he said he’s spending 90% of his time at the moment on the restaurant’s design. “My white whale of wood is a very high grade Douglas fir,” he says. “I spent eight hours on the phone yesterday trying to find it and I think I finally did!” Some interiors-minded chefs are going beyond the restaurant and bringing these pieces to their diners’ homes. Late last year, Clare de Boer, co-founder of the beloved West Village restaurant, King, and founder of the acclaimed Hudson Valley institution, Stissing House, launched Roseland, a furniture brand inspired by early American design. Earler this month at Milan Design Week, chef and artist Laila Gohar unveiled a capsule collection with Marimekko that included bedding—and is already no stranger to the interiors sphere, having built a cult following around Gohar World, the tableware universe that she launched in 2022 with her sister, Nadia. In the United Kingdom, food writer Skye McAlpine has grown her artisan-made tableware brand Tavola to new heights, while food stylist and writer Jess Elliott Dennison continues to gather loyal fans of her curated homewares emporium, Elliott’s, in Edinburgh. Whether more chefs will soon follow with furniture offerings, only time will tell. But if the long waiting lists and sold-out chef’s tables of the restaurants above indicate anything, one thing is for certain: There’s an appetite for it.
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Spring has sprung—and so have a number of new restaurants in New York City. Wondering which ones are worth the Resy alert? Vogue decided to give its readers a rundown, below. From a fine dining restaurant inside the just-opened Printemps run by a James Beard Award-winning chef, to an Italian restaurant in Williamsburg by the beloved team behind Kellogg’s Diner, here are the places that very much should be on your radar. JR & Son Opening in Williamsburg is JR & Son, a restaurant from the same team behind beloved Kellogg’s Diner. It will be helmed by Chef Patricia Vega, who previously worked at Thai Diner. The menu is Italian inspired: dishes include chicken parmesan and branzino with brown butter carrot puree and salsa verde. Maison Passerelle There are five food and beverage concepts at Printemps (the buzzy financial department store that advertises itself as anything but). Most notable among them? Maison Passerelle, the full service restaurant by James Beard Award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet. Its dynamic menu, which includes cane syrup glazed duck with pineapple and tamarind jus and a strip steak rubbed in an organic Haitian coffee chili and spice mix, explores that complicated culinary legacy left by French colonialism—and how those colonies influenced French cuisine right back. All of this is served amid a beautiful interior by AD100 designer Laura Gonzalez, which includes a mural by David Roma. Bar Bianchi From the restaurant group behind Downtown Manhattan hotspots like The Nines and Le Dive comes Bar Bianchi, a new restaurant inspired by fashionable Milan cafés like Bar Luce and Bar Basso as well as Italian aperitivo culture. Space-age style scones pay homage to Italian modernism, whereas a zinc and Formica bar acts as the space’s statement centerpiece. The Italian menu includes veal Milanese and rigatoni with sausage, peas, and pink sauce. Gitano NYC Gitano, the Tulum-based restaurant known for its Mexican food and beach-meets-jungle-inspired interiors, has long held pop-ups in New York City. Now, they’re becoming permanent residents. Recently, they opened a sprawling location on Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport, which boasts waterfront views of the Brooklyn skyline as well as a moody interior complete with chandeliers, towering greenery, and even a disco ball. Teruko Hotel Chelsea already has its fair share of beloved food and beverage spaces, from Café Chelsea and its famous ravioli to the century-old El Quijote. This spring, they will welcome one more with the arrival of Teruko, a Japanese and sushi restaurant. It will feature the original bar from the Orchid Bar at Tokyo’s Hotel Okura, which was recently salvaged.
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If you know one thing about Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year festival celebrated each year from April 13 to 15, it’s likely the water fights. (They even made an appearance in season three of The White Lotus.) Marking the start of the solar calendar, it’s known for its anything-goes water festivities: Participants armed with water guns, buckets, and hoses splash each other in a symbolic cleansing of sins and washing away of misfortunes that allow a fresh start in the new year. “The water fight is a real thing,” smiles Jenn Saesue, the New Jersey–born, Bangkok-raised cofounder of beloved downtown restaurant Fish Cheeks, known for seafood-forward, unapologetically spicy dishes that showcase Thai flavors and techniques rarely found in Manhattan before it opened in 2016. “People drive around with pickup trucks full of water, and you can dump it on anyone, even police, and they can’t get mad. It’s even welcome because it’s the hottest time of the year.” Befitting the second largest Buddhist population in the world (after China), many also visit temples to make merit, a fundamental Buddhist concept to generate positive karma that can involve offering alms to monks, participating in traditional rituals, and pouring jasmine-scented water over Buddha statues to honor their spirituality. Respect for elders is likewise key to the celebration; trickling water over the hands of older family members is a gesture of reverence and a way to receive blessings for the upcoming year. Throughout the country, the festival is marked by colorful parades, traditional music and dance, family reunions, and a spirit of community and togetherness. Celebrating Songkran now is similar to what we did growing up. We start at the temple in Elmhurst, Queens. Monks get up early, do their rounds in the neighborhood, and then return to the temple before noon. They depend on the community to feed them, so you do a food offering, and they do a prayer blessing. Most of the prayers are in Pali and Sanskrit, and you literally don’t know what you’re saying. But it’s about Buddhism, letting go, new beginnings, not holding on to things, bad karma, good karma, and making sure you’re a good person and not harming other people, just living a good life. During a portion of the chant, you pour water into a little bowl, and later you go to the biggest tree and pour that back into the earth, like a circle-of-life thing. What I liked most about this season of The White Lotus were the scenes with the monks. People don’t realize that’s such a big thing in Thailand. How Thai people live and behave is very much tied to the religion—why Thai people are so nonconfrontational and why it’s called the land of smiles. You’re taught at a very young age to let things go; nothing is so important for you to be extremely sad or affected. It’s no big deal most of the time, so calm down, don’t be stressed, it’s just a part of life. That’s rooted in religion. I try to go to the temple every six months; I could go more. I’m a bad Buddhist. My head chef Dustin Everett is giving a food offering to a monk. After we go through all the prayers and chanting for about an hour and 45 minutes, the monk invites everyone to share the food that they’ve brought. Dustin had never been to the temple before, so all the aunties were side-eyeing him at first. Then they tasted the food we brought from Fish Cheeks and asked him, “Are you single?” He’d never been to Asia before, but we’ve sent him to Thailand three times in the past two years, so he’s solid in Thai cuisine’s foundation and basics. All the Thai kids at the restaurant tell Dustin, “You’re Thai now.” [Laughs.] You bring dishes to the temple to show off your cooking skills. It’s a massive potluck. We brought Fish Cheeks’ coconut crab curry, crab fried rice, corn salad, and chicken wings. The temple has a full-size kitchen, and this lady was making her own curry there, and we were joking with her, like “Do you need help? These are chefs, we can all help.” She snapped back, “I don’t need it—I’m a chef too.” [Laughs.] Another lady brought a delicious home-cooked-style jungle curry that I hadn’t had in so long. I kept telling Dustin and Chat to taste it. Gathering with family and friends is the best part of Songkran. I have a very big family in Thailand—my mom has seven siblings, and my dad has four, and they all have kids—so I miss that huge get-together. I usually celebrate it with my sister, aunt, and mom’s best friends who were such a blessing when we first arrived. They took us in and cared for us. That reminded me that I need to return to Jackson Heights in Queens more. We lived there from when I was 14 to 27, and there’s a big Thai community and an abundance of Thai food. Now I have my restaurant family, and this year, we celebrated at Fish Cheeks’ private dining room at the end of the day. It’s a new beginning, especially when we’re opening Fish Cheeks Williamsburg. It felt like starting a new journey. This was the first Songkran in a while that I got to spend with my mom. She and my dad moved back to Thailand about 15 years ago, and I typically spend a month with them there every year, but usually not at Songkran. My sister just had a baby, who’s sitting in my lap here next to my husband, Jesse Morav. That’s another new beginning, and we’re forcing ourselves to speak Thai to the baby so he can at least understand what we’re saying when he’s older. We don’t usually have pad thai on the menu, but we’re making an exception for Songkran this year at the NoHo location. Long noodles symbolize longevity in Thai culture, so serving it is a way of wishing everyone a long and healthy life in the new year. We also had larb moo, a spicy mincemeat salad traditionally associated with good fortune; the word larb sounds like “luck” in Thai. There are no Songkran-specific dishes, but we usually have khao chae, or jasmine rice soaked in chilled, floral-scented water, which is refreshing because it’s so hot there. It’s almost like a cold porridge eaten with savory dishes. We created a cocktail version for Fish Cheeks NoHo, available through April 18. It feels very meaningful and full circle that we get to open Fish Cheeks again in Williamsburg—that we built something extremely special and we’re able to keep growing. Two new dishes will be exclusive to that location. The Mama Tom Yum is a take on the instant noodles brand every Thai person loves, but we’re using Sun Noodles. It’s rich, spicy, and packed with crispy pork belly and mixed seafood—layered with flavor but still deeply comforting. The marinated raw crab is bathed in fish sauce, garlic, chilis, cilantro, and lime juice and then chilled. It’s salty, spicy, and just a little sweet—the perfect dish for sharing at a festive table. It took us a long time to be brave enough to put that on the menu. We love it, but we were waiting for people to be okay with it, and this feels like the right time.
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Looking for the best restaurants on the Upper East Side? The neighborhood, which stretches from 59th to 96th Streets, has long been a pillar of fine dining in New York City, known for its white tablecloth restaurants that have served patrons for decades—and in some cases, for well over half a century. Although the Upper East Side culinary scene today caters to more diverse palates than those of Capote’s swans: restaurants include critically acclaimed French bistros, yes, but also two Michelin-starred sushi restaurants and buzzy restaurants for people-watching that some might even deign to call “hip.” Le Veau d’Or—the city’s oldest French bistro, dating back to 1937—has long been a preferred Upper East Side haunt. Yet in the past year and a half, it has become even more spectacular: In summer 2024, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson (of the critically acclaimed Frenchette) re-opened the restaurant after a five-year renovation with a $125 prix-fixe menu. Their 15 tables are now some of the hardest to get in New York. The escargot and frog legs are classics, as is their duck with cherries. Le Veau d’Or—the city’s oldest French bistro, dating back to 1937—has long been a preferred Upper East Side haunt. Yet in the past year and a half, it has become even more spectacular: In summer 2024, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson (of the critically acclaimed Frenchette) re-opened the restaurant after a five-year renovation with a $125 prix-fixe menu. Their 15 tables are now some of the hardest to get in New York. The escargot and frog legs are classics, as is their duck with cherries. Elio’s Every neighborhood needs its beloved old school red sauce joint. On the Upper East Side, that’s Elio’s. Around since the early 1980s, regulars have included Joan Didion, Martha Stewart, Nancy Reagan, and Andy Warhol over the decades. (Actor Tom Selleck once ate at Elio’s 26 nights in a row.) We could tell you what to order—the chicken parm is a classic—but the reality is, you need to listen to the extensive daily specials before committing to any one dish. Casa Tua For a more social dinner, get dressed up and go to Casa Tua, the hotspot at The Surrey Hotel that makes for excellent people watching while eating lobster pasta and veal scallopini. Although dinner isn’t your only option: there’s also a lounge which is the perfect place to order an afternoon coffee (or a glass of wine) after visiting a museum exhibition or taking a walk in Central Park. La Goulue La Goulue is a quintessential French bistro that’s been open since 1972. Expect classic French fare—steak au poivre and escargot are on the menu—and then some: they also have an assortment of sushi rolls. Casa Cruz Casa Cruz is spread out over several floors in a townhouse on 61st Street—each of them more glamorous than the next, thanks to its interiors of green velvet, gilded metals, and curved Brazilian cherry woods, as well as a multi-million dollar art collection that includes Warhols, Harings, and Boteros, exudes the fashionable elegance that the Upper East Side has long been known for. Restaurant Daniel If it’s fine dining you’re seeking, head straight to Restaurant Daniel, chef Daniel Boulud’s Michelin-starred flagship restaurant on the Upper East Side. It offers a more formal experience–Daniel offers prix-fixe and tasting menus rather than a la carte—but for a special occasion meal in the neighborhood, there’s no better choice. Sushi Noz The two Michelin-starred Sushi Noz, overseen by Chef Nozomu Abe, is one of the top Japanese restaurants in a city brimming with excellent options. Its interiors resemble a Kyoto temple and the food is prepared with remarkable precision: Sushi Noz’s tasting menu begins with five to six small plates and then goes into 12 to 14 sushi courses. There’s also miso soup—and, if you have room for it, dessert. Chez Fifi Since opening in 2024, Chez Fifi—run by the same hospitality team behind Sushi Noz—has not only become the hottest restaurant on the Upper East Side, but one of the hottest in New York itself. Securing a reservation requires serious dedication to refreshing OpenTable… or finding someone with the culinary connections to get you in. The French bistro boasts an impressive art collection—think Calders and Mirós—and an equally impressive menu, serving everything from deviled crab filet mignon au poivre to a blue cheese martini. Hoexters Hoexters (the “o” is silent) first opened on the Upper East Side back in the 1970s. In 2024, it received an interior revamp by Sasha Bikoff complete with custom red plaid Thibault wallpaper and leather banquettes. Since then, it has attracted a whole new generation. Although its decor is far from the only draw: nostalgic menu items include gorgonzola garlic bread, cheeseburgers, and a roasted half chicken. Café Carlyle Fancy dinner and a show? Look no further than Café Carlyle, the cabaret restaurant inside the storied Carlyle Hotel. Dine on everything from pate en croute to Faroe Island salmon while taking in a performance from a wide-range of legendary performers: this spring alone sees acts from Glee’s Matthew Morrison to Jeff Goldblum. Before or after, get a drink at the hotel’s legendary Bemelemans Bar. Café Sabarsky Tucked away inside the Neue Galerie—a museum dedicated to early 20th-century German and Austrian art—Café Sabarsky is an all-day restaurant that feels more like a Mitteleuropean cafe. Its interiors feature collector’s objects from the Vienna Secession movement, like lamps by Josef Hoffmann and furniture by Adolf Loos. Come for the coffee, and stay for the desserts, which include caramelized crepe soufflé and cheese strudel with vanilla sauce. JG Melon When JG Melon—the 53 year old, cash-only restaurant on 3rd Avenue—announced in 2022 that they would no longer serve their signature cottage fries, it made the news. They've been reinstated (thank god), but such a hubbub over a menu item should tell you how beloved J.G. Melon is as an Upper East Side institution. There's really only one thing you should order here—the cheeseburger—although the chili is pretty great too; save room for the aforementioned cottage fries and a slice of chocolate cake. Eat it all on their signature green-and-white checkered tablecloths.
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Remember the rarity of finding a café that made almond milk lattes? It was only a few years ago—okay, maybe a decade or two—that “mainstream” non dairy milk was a coffee shop novelty. Asking for an oat milk matcha or soy-cap was the punchline of a joke, and now, baristas don’t bat an eye. Just last month, Dunkin’ Donuts announced it would be be repealing the surcharge on its non-dairy milk options: That extra 50 cents saved feels like the final step towards complete alt-milk normalization. Soy, almond, and of course, oat milk are commonplace in both grocery aisles and cafes alike—and like every trend arc, we’re now starting to see a new generation of fringe dairy alternatives emerge. Before we get into the current landscape of alt-milks, here’s a (very) brief history lesson. Soy, almond, and coconut milk have been around for centuries as dietary staples around the world. Almond milk appears referenced in medieval texts, and soy milk recipes were documented on Chinese slabs dating back to the first century. It wasn’t until the mid-aughts, however, that they started to blow up—commercially-speaking. According to Global Market Insights, by 2019 the plant-based milk market had surpassed $12 billion, with projections for non diary milk business estimating an 11% growth rate through 2026. Soy milk, once the reigning alternative, has long been associated with, shall we say, a particular brand of hippie lifestyle. As Tariro Makoni, author of the popular Substack Trademarked, noted in her exploration of “quiet luxury milk,” soy has always been progressive, signaling “an awareness of both the environment and plant-based lifestyles.” In the mid-aughts, almond milk dethroned soy’s non-dairy domination, reflecting the status-driven rise of wellness culture, as Makoni writes. While it is still arguably the most prevalent non dairy milk, mass-produced by brands like Blue Diamond and Silk, almond milk’s reputation has soured due to reports of its excessive water usage and heavy environmental impact, as well as the reported murky additives that cancel out its health halo. And so it’s inspired other nuts to get milked, if you will. That’s where the new generation comes in. For Táche founder Roxana Saidi, pistachios are the obvious choice. “Pistachio trees have a 75% smaller water footprint than almonds,” she tells Vogue, and the richness of the pistachio itself is what makes the texture so naturally velvety—not from added industrial seed oils, like some of its counterparts. Saidi’s appreciation for pistachios goes beyond nutrition and sustainability, though. “My father and I shared a love for pistachios,” she says, “one that was rooted in both heritage and appreciation for their cultural significance.” With the non-dairy space’s evolution, Táche became the perfect opportunity to reintroduce this luxurious nut in a modern and meaningful way. Beyond pistachios, macadamia and cashew milks have carved out their own niches, while lesser-known alternatives like pecan and walnut are finding their footing. For those avoiding nuts altogether, Lattini’s sunflower seed milk offers an allergen-free, eco-friendly option. Of course, no conversation about alt-milks is complete without mentioning oat milk. Oatly, the Swedish brand known for originating the product in the ’90s, tends to be the first name in people’s minds. Oat is the arena where more innovation seems to be at play. These days, competitors like Minor Figures and Willa’s are giving oat an upgrade, with elevated yet playful packaging and shorter ingredient lists. Still, oat milk isn’t perfect—it’s not great for the planet, and its nutrition profile is up for debate. That’s where fermentation offers an interesting solution. Koatji, a brand founded and tested by Michelin-star chefs, combines the familiar sweetness of oat milk with the umami depth of koij rice, a fermented ingredient widely used in miso, soy sauce, and saké. “In plant based milk, it offers better creaminess and improved digestibility—without artificial additives,” says Rasmus Kliim, Koatji’s head of research and development, who previously worked as the head chef at Restaurant Radio in Copenhagen. “Flavor and performance is everything,” he says, reflecting on Koatji’s latte-ready texture. “It’s the key to standing out in a market filled with alternative milks.” Kiki Milk is also pushing oat milk’s boundaries. Based in Hawaii, they blend oat milk with organic hemp and pumpkin seeds, coconut, bananas, amla (a South Asian superfruit), and Aquamin™, an algae-based mineral complex for a nutrient-dense option that relies on Kauai’s finest ingredients. “At its core, Kiki Milk is about reconnecting people to real food and nature,” says Rebecca Zimmermann, the brand’s director of communications. “The best ingredients come straight from the earth, and that philosophy continues to guide us.” These brands aren’t just upgrading ingredients and sustainability—they’re reimagining plant-based milk’s aesthetic. Koatji’s modern, minimalist branding was designed to look sleek on coffee shop countertops, explains Maj Henriques, their chief brand officer. “We aimed to look different from everything else on the market, reflecting that Koatji is a new innovative standard for plant milk.” Táche leans into the natural opulence of pistachios with jewel-toned packaging. “We intentionally avoided the usual health-food cues because we believe that being good for you and being beautiful aren’t mutually exclusive,” Saidi explains. “We wanted the experience to feel like finding your favorite artist or fashion designer—something that sparks joy and a lasting connection.” Kiki Milk, on the other hand, finds aesthetic inspiration in Hawaii’s identity as the “rainbow state.” “We also like to think of ourselves as the Pixar of milk—infusing a sense of play into everything we create,” says Zimmermann. So what’s next in the non-dairy space? Founders cite everything from fermentation to ingredient transparency, but one thing is clear: this new generation isn’t just trying to mimic dairy, it’s trying to redefine the category. “The future belongs to products that don’t just check the ‘alternative’ box,” says Saidi, “they have to be exceptional in their own right. We’re moving beyond simply replacing dairy and into a world where plant-based options stand on their own merits.”
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This Eid, Zaynab Issa will go to Sami’s Kabab House in Queens with 70 of her extended family members. They’ll order uzbeki kabuli pulao (braised lamb shank over brown rice), dumplings with yogurt and tomato sauce, and yes, all sorts of kababs. Then, Issa will bring some desserts to pass out. She hasn’t made a final decision yet…as of now, she’s thinking date and dark chocolate cookies. Now, it’s not a traditional Eid dish—although it does have sweet similarities to ma’amoul, a fig or date butter filled cookie that’s often served during the springtime holiday. But Issa, a writer and recipe developer, is a strong believer in “fusion.” She understands the jargon-y term might provoke some eye rolls. “There’s a lot of places doing fusion and it feels random,” she says. But it’s just how Issa cooks. She and her family come from a Khoja background, which is a minority-within-a-minority ethnic group of Indian Muslims that had a large diaspora from the Indian subcontinent to East Africa. Growing up in a small New Jersey town, Issa regularly ate meals that had a little bit of Indian, a little bit of Swahili, and a little bit of American all mixed together. Third Culture is also the name of her debut cookbook, out April 1. It includes family recipes, like her grandmother’s Baklava or her sister in law’s Biryani. It includes recipes that are distinctly American, like her spin on TGI Friday’s artichoke dip, Baskin-Robbins-inspired almond fudge squares, or what she calls “Mall Cinnamon Rolls.” And then there are mash-ups of a whole bunch of influences: Tandoori tacos, French onion ramen, coronation chicken pastries. (Oh, and those date and dark chocolates cookies are in there too.) “It’s inspired cooking that has a cultural context,” Issa says. The term “third culture kid” was first coined in the ’50s to describe children whose identities were both influenced by their parents’ culture and the culture in which they were raised. Issa knows she is one of millions of people who fit into this often confusing, uncheckable category. This cookbook is for them. “Third culture kids can struggle to find meaning in their identity. I can’t relate to one thing entirely ever, and that’s okay,” she says. It’s also just for anyone who likes exploring culture through cuisine. Date and Dark Chocolate Cookies Makes 22 cookies 1 hour, plus chill time Like most people, my ideal cookie has crispy edges and a chewy center. Thanks to the tahini and olive oil–based dough, these deliver on that while also lending an exceptional sweet-savory balance, another quality I look for in a good dessert. To get the cookies just right, measure the ingredients by weight (tahini can be tricky to measure, so it really does help), use good quality chocolate bars, and keep the pieces pretty big for oozy pools of melty chocolate. Oh, and finishing with flaky sea salt is a must. For a softer, less crisp cookie, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for a few extra minutes. Ingredients 2¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt 9 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped 8 ounces 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate,* roughly chopped 2 large eggs ½ cup extra virgin olive oil ¼ cup well-mixed tahini 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ¾ cup granulated sugar ¾ cup packed light brown sugar* Flaky sea salt *Instead of. . . Bittersweet chocolate, use semisweet chocolate Light brown sugar, use dark brown sugar Directions 1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the dates and chocolate to evenly distribute. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, olive oil, tahini, and vanilla on medium speed until creamy and emulsified, about 2 minutes. Beat in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined, about 45 seconds. 2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, just until combined, about 30 seconds. Using a 2-ounce (60 ml) cookie scoop or ¼-cup measuring cup, portion the dough onto a plate. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours and up to 72 hours. 3. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough balls between the prepared baking sheets spaced about 3 inches apart. 4. Put one baking sheet in the oven and bake until golden brown around the edges, 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully but firmly bang the baking sheet against the counter to deflate the centers (to create a chewier cookie). Sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake thesecond sheet of cookies in the same way. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before serving. 5. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 15 seconds. You can freeze unbaked dough balls for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator or bake from frozen for 3 to 5 minutes longer.
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When Printemps opens its doors in New York’s Financial District on March 21, it will do so with five food and beverage concepts. Four of them fit within a standard category of culinary luxury one expects at a place that sells designer goods by Bottega Veneta and Rick Owens: there’s a champagne bar, a raw bar, a regular bar, and an all-day café that serves croissants and espresso. But the fifth? That’s in a category all of its own: Maison Passerelle, a fine dining restaurant by James Beard Award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet that explores that complicated culinary legacy left by French colonialism—and how those colonies influenced French cuisine right back. “I come from a place of culture and history,” Gourdet says of his cooking style. Born in Queens to Haitian immigrants, he grew up eating classic island dishes like sos pwa—black bean puree over rice—for dinner. (“It's really one of the most humble, yet delicious and comforting dishes out there,” says Gourdet.) As a young adult, he studied cuisines far beyond the borders of both America and the Caribbean as a student at the Culinary Institute of America. Then, he became a master at several of them: for seven years, he worked under the legendary French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and for another 10, he led Pan-Asian restaurant Departure in Portland to critical acclaim. That acclaim only got louder when he opened his first restaurant Kann, which won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2023. When Printemps approached him to oversee food and beverage at their New York location, he knew there needed to be a French element to connect back to the brand’s Parisian roots. But he also knew that the city didn’t necessarily “need another French restaurant.” So what could he—and should he—bring to the table (quite literally), given he was trained in just about everything? French-Haitian food would make sense given his own background. But he wanted to go beyond that, to “all the places around the world where French has been spoken or is spoken,” he says, from Afro-French countries to French Asian countries like Laos and Vietnam to even Louisiana. All of them have signature dishes that meld indigenous and French flavors, creating a truly original cuisine in the process. “It’s complicated,” he acknowledges of the cultural legacy he’s exploring. He quickly got to work on the menu. There’s a creole cassoulet with sausage and chicken, as well as a cane syrup glazed duck with pineapple and tamarind jus. A dry-aged strip steak is rubbed in an organic Haitian coffee chili and spice mix. (Gourdet imports beans from a Haitian coffee company Cafe Kreyol, which he also uses in drinks and desserts, like his chocolate ganache.) And yes, there's even his own take on sos pwa with a red kidney bean sauce. “Any opportunity to present the flavors of the diaspora are important to me,” he says. “Also, the opportunity to do so in a fine ding setting—that’s the setting this type of cuisine deserves to be in.” The interiors are by AD100 designer Laura Gonzalez and have a gilded tropical air, with a red jasper marble bar and bench seating upholstered in Pierre Frey’s Le Manach fabric. On the walls is a fresco by David Roma, inspired by the sunsets of former French colonies in the Caribbean, central Africa, and Southeast Asia. In French, passerelle means gateway or bridge. Which is exactly what Gourdet wants his Maison Passerelle to be: “It’s a bridge to these flavors and how they made their way around the world—and how there is a line through all these different countries,” he says.
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It was the push alert that sent shockwaves through my group chats: Last Thursday, President Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wines and spirits as the latest retaliatory measure in his administration’s ever-escalating trade war. Should the tax be put into place (which could happen as soon as this spring), the cost of whiling away an afternoon with a bottle of Provence Rosé could become a much more expensive proposition—to say nothing of devastating an already troubled industry. (Between the rise of non-alcoholic drinks and pre-mixed cocktails, last year saw an overall downturn in more traditional wine and spirits sales.) “The quality in US wine, especially if you know where to look, is definitely no different than in Europe,” says Jeff DiLorenzo, who leads domestic buying at New York City’s Chambers Street Wines. “Most people have preconceived notions of their preferences, but it does feel like there are more and more outstanding producers in the US that people don’t really give a chance.” As he tells me, however, it helps to approach an American wine not as a direct corollary to well-known European varieties, but rather as its own thing. “It’s like two different cheeses from two different areas,” DiLorenzo says. “There are nuances that are going to make it distinct—but I think the quality is on par, so you can find something that’s equally enjoyable.” In that spirit, below, DiLorenzo breaks down American wines worth knowing—politics and tariffs aside. If you’re looking for white wine… “If you typically go for Sancerre, there are some great Sauvignon Blancs coming from California—I really like the Bedrock Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma County, which has the flinty, sleek mineral side you often find with Sancerre. It’s elegant, crisp, dry, and generally runs around $30 retail in New York, which is about what you’d pay for an average Sancerre. Another store favorite is the Elizabeth Spencer North Coast Sauvignon Blanc from Mendocino, which is a great value at around $20 and has a bit more citrus fruit, but is still crisp, dry, and refreshing. Chenin blanc is one of my favorite grapes, especially coming from the Loire Valley and particularly from Anjou. I’m pretty discerning when it comes to Chenin, but I’ve found the Haarmeyer St. Rey En Foudre Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg, California, to be one of my favorite wines from anywhere. It’s chiseled and structured, has that waxy texture, honeyed aroma, and laser-beam acidity that I love in Chenin. Also, when you can find it, the Sandlands Chenin is worth seeking out.” If you’re looking for rosé… “For a light, pale, and dry Provence rosé, there are a good number of options, but I especially love the Matthiasson Rosé from Napa, which year after year hits all the right notes: nice balanced fruit, great acidity, incredibly fresh, and oh-so-easy to drink. I actually prefer it to most Provence rosés.” If you’re looking for red wine… “Many people have drawn comparisons between Burgundy in France and Oregon’s Willamette Valley, as they lie along the same latitude and have similarities in climate. Burgundy is known for Pinot noir and Chardonnay, and there is no shortage of great Willamette Valley Pinot noirs and Chardonnays available. One of my personal favorites is the Fossil & Fawn Pinot Noir, which is a phenomenal value and is medium-light in body, with that forest-floor earthiness you get from some great Burgundy Pinots. Other Oregon producers of note are Cameron, Kelley Fox, and the Eyrie Vineyards, all making incredible wines that I believe are on par with any high-end Burgundy. If Beaujolais or Gamay is more your vibe, check out the delicious Arnot-Roberts Gamay, which comes from the Sierra Foothills in California—it’s bright and juicy and holds its own alongside many Beaujolais crus. There are also a growing number of producers in the Willamette Valley making great Gamay, including Bow & Arrow, Division Winemaking Co, and the Color Collector. Speaking of New York wines, for lovers of Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, there are some great alternatives just a short-ish drive away. Some of my favorites come from Bloomer Creek, Nathan K, Eminence Road Farm, and Barbichette; their Le Rouge is a delicious bistro-style light and juicy red made of Cabernet Franc with some Merlot.” If you’re looking for sparkling wine… “For sparkling wine, I’m a big fan of the Maître de Chai Sparkling Chenin, which comes from California but is made in the same way they make Champagne or Cremant—and at $35, turns out to be a great value. It’s elegant, with fine bubbles and hints of toasty brioche, classic apple, and quince fruit. For something a bit more ‘fun and funky,’ you could stay even more local with some of the Chepika Pet-Nats, which come from the Finger Lakes region in New York and utilize some of the region’s unique hybrid grapes. I’m also a big fan of Wild Arc Farm for fun and juicy hybrid natural wines—maybe not as much of a direct comparison to European wines, but worth seeking out for someone who wants to try something new and exciting.”
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At this year’s Milan Design Week, one name in particular kept cropping up everywhere: Faye Toogood. The British designer had a bumper year, presenting new collections for Tacchini and Noritake, appearing on billboards for Archiproducts’ 25th anniversary, and receiving the Designer of the Year award from EDIDA—as well as flitting between various launches and events all throughout the week. And now, hot on the heels of her Salone whirlwind, Toogood is arriving in New York City for not one, but two concurrent and connected exhibitions split across some of the city’s hottest design galleries. “I’m a bit sick of myself,” Toogood jokes to Vogue, before acknowledging that while her very busy past 18 months have proved impressively fruitful, there’s been little time left for genuine creativity. Daydreamed ideas and late-night work sessions became her only opportunity to exercise that muscle, and the result is Lucid Dream, which opens at both The Future Perfect and TIWA Select on May 2, 2025. These two separate yet entwined collections both showcase her love of hand-painting, a skill from her fine art days that she recently rediscovered after going “years and years” without picking up a paintbrush. The incorporation of this rekindled talent into her design work signals a shift in Toogood’s output. “I’m on a precipice of change in terms of my work,” she says. “I’m trying to take myself in a different direction. And I think this is the first step in whatever direction it’s going to be.” The designer explains that the co-presented sister shows are manifestations of her own “left brain vs. right brain” thinking, and represent the dualities of the ethereal vs. the visceral; emotional intuition vs. dream logic. At The Future Perfect’s grand, immaculate West Village townhouse, several of Toogood’s best-loved designs are covered in her boldly colorful, expressive markings. The instantly recognizable, cast-fiberglass Roly Poly Dining Table and Chair; the plump, upholstered Gummy Armchairs, Sofa and Footstools; and the rounded, intersecting Palette Tables have all received this special treatment—along with a new set of wooden folding screens, a version of the Palette Console in aluminum, and a large mobile in the same metal. “The challenge was letting myself loose in a daydream-like way, with just paint and color and hands and brushes and pens and squeegees and sponges,” she remembers, noting she was egged on by The Future Perfect founder David Alhadeff. “For a week, I just went for it.” Meanwhile, Toogood’s collection at TIWA Select’s rustic industrial loft space in Tribeca was informed by a recent trip she took to Japan. Using the rice paper and ink she brought back, the designer fashioned a series of paper lights that are washed with sensual single-stroke lines that depict figures, appendages, and patterns that come alive when the pieces are illuminated at night. The crumpled surfaces and textured wrought iron frames of the Johnny collection align perfectly with the “nocturnal subconscious” of the gallery’s more personal and intimate setting, curated by Alex Tieghi-Walker. The inflection point in Toogood’s approach to her work began—as it did for many creatives—during the pandemic, when the limitations brought on by lockdowns sparked a new sense of creative freedom, resourcefulness, and a return to play. She recalls her thoughts at the time: “I can’t go and buy amazing new materials. What have I got? I’ve got kitchen foil. I’ve got stuff in the fridge. I’ve got some stuff in the garden.” The reason why so many of her recent collections have an inherently domestic flair, she notes, is partly out of necessity. “Unsettling” rapid advances in technology have also given Toogood pause lately, forcing her to reflect upon her role as a designer within a fast-changing world. “AI can design a Faye Toogood chair better than Faye Toogood, in theory. So what can I actually bring?” Her response: more humanity and genuine emotion, which has resulted in a shift from more rigid, contained, utilitarian forms of her earlier career, to a much more personal, sexual, feminine aesthetic influenced by her emotions, her life, and her immediate context—all things that purposefully “provide the antidote to the machine.” “Unsettling” rapid advances in technology have also given Toogood pause lately, forcing her to reflect upon her role as a designer within a fast-changing world. “AI can design a Faye Toogood chair better than Faye Toogood, in theory. So what can I actually bring?” Her response: more humanity and genuine emotion, which has resulted in a shift from more rigid, contained, utilitarian forms of her earlier career, to a much more personal, sexual, feminine aesthetic influenced by her emotions, her life, and her immediate context—all things that purposefully “provide the antidote to the machine.” For example, the Bread and Butter collection she presented in Milan for Italian furniture brand Tacchini was prototyped using real butter to shape the squashy, curvaceous cushions of the modular sofa, while halved slices of baguettes informed the loaf-like components of a wooden console. Her other big debut during Salone, the Rose collection for Japanese ceramics brand Noritake, features more hand-painting—adorning a selection of white porcelain dinnerware in a riot of pink and green based on the flowers in her kitchen garden. Pivoting to explore new tools, mediums, and ideas has always been part of Toogood’s professional journey. She initially studied art history, then worked as a stylist at The World of Interiors before founding her design studio in 2008. Part of this “experimental” practice—her word, in place of “multidisciplinary,” which she dislikes—includes a longstanding collaboration with her sister, Erica, on a clothing line that has offered oversized silhouettes in unexpected fabrics long before they recently came back into fashion. This too has taken a domestic slant of late, with their latest collection informed by the breakfast table—think red gingham, milky tea hues, and silver spoons as a base palette. “Working on clothes has really informed the furniture, beyond materials and beyond aesthetics,” Toogood explains. “It’s amazing to change somebody’s silhouette, the way somebody feels, to be part of somebody’s identity in clothing. And I started to apply that to objects and furniture, so it has deepened my thought process.” “I was never quite the designer that was about solving problems or coming up with the best ergonomic chair. That’s not my thing,” she adds. “But whether it's a coat, a chair, or a cup, I approach things in a very similar way.” With her recent domination of Milan, and imminent command over New York City’s annual design week in May, Toogood is happily riding this second wave of success—and humbly basking in the highly deserved recognition from her industry peers. “For someone who’s always felt like I’ve worked on fringes, on the borders, on the outside… Then suddenly to feel genuinely connected to your community, and having that acknowledgement and understanding of what you’re doing right now, feels great,” she beams. “Something has clicked.”
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Is the world of hospitality finally ready for its #MeToo moment? In the UK, a recent letter from 70 women chefs called upon the restaurant industry to recognize both the blatant and more insidious forms of sexism within its midst, leading to widespread media coverage. Sally Abé of The Pem, Tiella’s Dara Klein, and Poppy O’Toole were among the list of women “exhausted by an industry so systematically flawed that we struggle to see ourselves within it.” Professional kitchens have long been marred by inflated egos and aggression, an environment that makes it all the more difficult for women to break through and thrive. Yet there are plenty of communities and figures across the world making their pan-cultural kitchens more diverse, inclusive, and joyful spaces. For the seven chefs we spoke to this International Women’s Day, it felt like a moment to celebrate—whether a mom’s late night acts of love with a warm and comforting home-cooked meal, lessons passed from one female chef to another in the kitchen, or authentic recipes shared between generations of women. Here, we have Paris Rosina: a London-based chef, creative, former dinner lady, and former Dusty Knuckle head chef; Paris’ travelling Afro-vegan chef Glory Kabe; Tokyo-based cook Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares, whose forthcoming debut cookbook Umai is a resplendent, nourishing journey through Japanese cuisine; beloved London restaurant Cafe Deco’s head chef Anna Tobias who steers its fresh, innovative, seasonal approach; Rahel Stephanie, the chef behind Indonesian supper club Spoons; New York-based chef, stylist and culinary artist Thu Buser who celebrates and reimagines Viet cuisine; and Savannah Hagendijk, head chef at Amsterdam’s Michelin-starred Restaurant de Kas, currently cooking up a storm over the grills at Soho’s Firebird. Paris Rosina “I come from a working class family, where we didn’t eat anything extravagant growing up. I grew up watching Nigella, Fanny, and Delia, and I was obsessed with the Two Fat Ladies from a young age. I am so lucky to have such strong women around me. Rebecca Oliver of Dusty Knuckle really gave me some much needed nurturing during my career there. I am not sure where I would be without her. Melek Erdel is my dear friend, and the first person outside of my kitchen team I connected with in food. Holly Chaves, Marie Mitchell, Rosie French, Panayiota Soutis, Caitlin Isola, Holly Cochrane. In my teens and early 20s, I worked in many all-male kitchens. I’ve been both bullied and sexually assaulted by chefs and front of house managers. In the last few years, a fridge repair man rubbed my shoulder and said ‘make us a cup of tea love'. With that said, I have chosen to remove myself from environments like this—I think that says it all. I do know lots of people now thriving in their workplaces, however, would I also say that a lot of these places—not all—are queer and female led spaces? Probably yes.” Glory Kabe “My mother was a huge influence in my career as a chef. She wasn’t a professional cook, but the way she approached food with love, care, and deep cultural roots shaped how I see cooking today. She taught me that food is more than just nourishment—it’s a story, a connection to identity and history. Her presence in the kitchen was powerful and inspiring, and I carry that essence in my work today. I deeply admire chefs like chef Fatmata Binta and chef Adefila Adenike Abisola for their dedication to breaking barriers and creating spaces where culinary traditions from diverse backgrounds are celebrated. I believe the industry is evolving, but there is still work to be done in making kitchens more inclusive and equitable. The key is fostering environments where women, especially women of color, feel empowered to lead, innovate, and be recognized for their contributions. A career highlight for me was working with Alessandra Montagne for Cannes Film Festival and highlighting our cultures during one of the biggest events in the world. I had the chance to push the boundaries of food and storytelling—moments like these remind me why I do what I do.” Millie Lagares “Food was always something I felt strongly about as I grew up with a Japanese mum—this meant food and cooking was always at the forefront of our daily lives. The care, culture, and passion that my mum had towards food was incredibly inspiring, as well as her having a creative job where she got to travel the world. I’m a big fan of authors and chefs like Ixta Belfrage who make use of fusion, doing things that are fun and exciting, drawing inspiration from all over the world—it’s definitely something I strive towards in the way that I cook. Kelly Pochyba, for home cooking that is simple, beautiful, and homey. The way she writes is so cozy, and feels like I’m reading a letter from a penpal. I have a good friend, Alexa Fahlman, who moved to Tokyo recently from a Chinese-Canadian background and we both have so much fun looking toward Japanese ingredients, traveling, eating out, and discussing dishes. All the women in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen have always created a safe space in food. Where they draw influence from is always so fascinating: Milli Taylor, Katja Tausig, Noor Murad, Chaya Maya.” Anna Tobias “I found women’s voices in cookery literature have often guided my way—starting with some of the classic writers like Julia Child, Elizabeth David, and Jane Grigson and then Gabrielle Hamilton and Judy Rogers. Elizabeth David had such a strong voice that I connected to. Grigson and Child gave excellent instruction and were formative. With Rogers and Hamilton, I really value their attention to precision, which feels essential to me as a chef who focuses on simple food. There are countless women running incredible kitchens. Laura Jackson of Towpath, Dara Klein of Tiella, Simona di Dio of Bottega Caruso, and Sophia Massarella of Polentina are just a few from my own generation. Each of these chefs is creating beautiful, thoughtful, and spirited food that has a strong sense of self and character. Working for Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen was a major highlight for me. It was during my time there that I felt like I truly found my culinary voice. Margot was incredibly generous in allowing me to explore and develop that by giving me the opportunity to write restaurant menus. She has such a distinct aesthetic, not just in her food, but also in how she hosts and creates an atmosphere. There’s a unique mix of style, ease, generosity, and an effortless sense of cool. My trajectory has been very chosen in the sense that I have mostly worked for women and so my environment has usually felt very gender balanced. I do think that hospitality is moving in the right direction, but I believe there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of making the culture more positive—from having better conversations around mental health to just ensuring that every member of every team feels like they're in a safe and happy environment. These should be the basic standards, but I think there’s still a little way to go to make them the norm.” Rahel Stephanie “I didn’t grow up in a household where cooking was a big part of our daily life, and I wasn’t particularly close to the matriarchs in my family. After my grandmother passed away two years ago, I felt this pull to connect with my great-aunt, Oma Chris. She’s always been one of the most talented cooks I know, effortlessly making dishes that hold deep meaning for our family. Learning from her has been more than just about the recipes—it’s about understanding how food carries memory, how it becomes a thread that ties people together. That’s something I carry into my own practice: Using food as a way to gather, to create moments that feel intimate and grounding, even for those who might not have grown up with that kind of connection. I didn’t take the traditional route into food—I never went to culinary school, and I kind of stumbled into it organically. But I wouldn’t be where I am today without the women in this industry who have been so generous in sharing knowledge, opportunities, and support. There’s this real sense of community among women in hospitality, and that’s been invaluable. It’s not just about mentorship in the traditional sense—it’s about exchanging ideas, lifting each other up, and making space where space wasn’t always given to us. Being a self-taught woman of color in a male-dominated industry comes with its challenges. I’ve been underestimated plenty of times, but I’ve learned to use those moments to shift perceptions. There’s always this element of surprise when people realize what I bring to the table—like they didn’t expect it. But I love that. It’s a reminder that skill, creativity, and passion don’t fit into a single mold, and that the industry is evolving beyond outdated ideas of who gets to take up space in kitchens. That’s something I try to pass forward, too—making sure other women, especially those who don’t fit the usual industry narrative, feel seen and valued. There’s been progress, but there’s still a long way to go, especially when it comes to intersectionality. The conversation around inclusivity often centers on gender, but there’s still so much work to be done for trans women, non-binary folks, and people of color in these spaces. It’s not just about opening doors—it’s about actively dismantling the structures that have kept certain people out in the first place. That means rethinking hiring practices, leadership dynamics, and even the way kitchens function on a day-to-day level. True inclusivity isn’t just about who’s in the room, but whether they feel safe, supported, and empowered to thrive.” Thu Buser “As a little girl, I used to run around and cause chaos at my mom’s restaurant, built into the side of our house. There was just something so enticing about the activity and energy of the restaurant, and somehow my mom always found the time to put little artistic touches on each dish. Sometimes it was carrots carved into little roses, other times it was watermelons cut into fractal patterns; but there was always an element of beauty. She did her best to dissuade me from becoming a chef, but it was too late! Being a woman in Vietnam in my mother’s era meant you never had the luxury of pursuing your passion. Growing up in Vietnam, there was not a culture of learning and recognizing chefs, so it was a big surprise when I found that it was possible to be a household name by making food in the US. The first person I learned about was Julia Childs, and I became obsessed with the idea that a woman could approach cooking with this kind of ferocity. Back home, there was more of a local cult following around neighborhood cooks who had mastered a particular dish, and I remember, outside the alley of my house, there was this incredible wonton soup woman named An who was already up and preparing when I was just coming home from partying all night! If I have learned anything from these women, it is that there is no such thing as working too hard or diving too deep into making amazing food for other people. I host my own pop up series and hire a team of chefs to work with me—I know I need to live the principles I’d like to see in the industry. As a Vietnamese chef, I love gathering people who are less familiar with my cuisine, no matter what background they come from, who are really inspired to learn. I am aware this is not always the case and people are brought in to fit a pre-determined role rather than giving them room to express their own style and capabilities. I think that pop-ups can lead the wave of change in this area since we have less demand to meet day to day challenges and can take a more flexible approach to building a kitchen culture. I had seen a huge surge in the importance of ethnic people making and styling our own food for the camera, which is a welcome change.” Savannah Hagendijk “I have sadly never worked for a female head chef. I have worked with good male chefs, but unfortunately there were few female chefs in the places where I worked at the start of my career. My sister has been a great example to me when it comes to perseverance and willpower—she opened her own business when she was quite young, and while it was not always easy, she persevered and did it anyway. I find Margot Jansens’s cooking style and vision very inspiring, and what Mari Maris does with vegetables is incredibly cool. I have been given many opportunities to develop myself into who I am today through Jos Timmer and Wim de Beer. It is inspiring to see that they want to put young women and men forward at De Kas, and put them in the picture, but it is also really nice that, despite the fact that there are far too few women working in the kitchen, I have never encountered problems with it at De Kas. I have certainly seen kitchens become more diverse in recent years—there were even days when we had more women than men in the kitchen at De Kas. It does not matter to me what the exact distribution is, as long as women can do what they want and that everyone can feel at home in the kitchen, regardless of gender or background.”
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You can always count on a few things during Oscars weekend: a joke from the evening’s host bombing, a best actress nominee (or several) in Armani Privé, and candid snaps of celebrities eating In-N-Out burgers after the ceremony. You have the Vanity Fair Oscars Party for the latter: the outlet’s star-studded extravaganza has been serving cheeseburgers to the most famous people in the world for more than 30 years. What began with a food truck set up to feed the police, firefighters, and crew working the party has morphed into a longstanding tradition, with In-N-Out burgers becoming almost as coveted as an Oscar statuette itself. At last night’s party, Vogue witnessed Mark Eydelshteyn—the breakout Russian actor from best picture winner Anora—try his very first In-N-Out. “It’s very tasty,” Eydelshteyn said while mid-bite. “And unexpected!” He wasn’t the only star to feast on the West Coast delicacy, either. Shortly after arriving at the bash, best actor winner Adrien Brody joined his mother, Sylvia Plachy, his father, Elliot, and his girlfriend, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, to indulge in a burger together. Even newly minted best supporting actress winner Zoë Saldaña could be spotted gliding through the party with her burger in one hand and her Oscar in the other. Last year, Steven Spielberg famously snapped a few personal pics of his prized burger before chowing down. What, one might ask, is the enduring appeal of the In-N-Out burger on Oscar night? “There’s a lot of energy invested in awards season and the best way to end it is with a good burger because it's comforting,” said Édgar Ramírez, one of the stars of Emilia Pérez. “I love that having burgers at cool parties is the rule and etiquette now. Every time I’ve been invited, I’m going to have In-N-Out—always!” In-N-Out first appeared at Vanity Fair’s inaugural Oscar Party in 1994, then held at Morton’s Steakhouse in West Hollywood. After the burger truck pulled up to feed the behind-the-scenes staff, some of the celebs attending the modest 100-person dinner—which included Diane von Furstenberg, Nancy Reagan, Lee Radziwill, Gene Hackman, Donald Sutherland and Barry Diller—noticed and got jealous. “The first guests asked if they could have one, which prompted the decision to bring them inside the party—not knowing how it would evolve to what it is today,” explained Sara Marks, Vanity Fair’s director of special projects who has been organizing the Oscar party for the past three decades. Handing out the burgers was an immediate hit, and now, 31 years later, it’s an awards season staple. Precisely 1,707 burgers were served to the starry guests at last night’s party, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Double-Doubles, Double-Meats, and grilled cheese. (The cheeseburgers are always the most popular on the menu, and are prepared fresh onsite at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.) Indeed, the Vanity Fair Oscar Party has become so closely associated with In-N-Out that two PETA protesters showed up at Sunday evening’s party, although the disturbance was quickly contained. Kaitlyn Dever, the actor set to star in season two of HBO’s The Last of Us, has been invited to the party a few times before, and always makes sure to grab a burger first. “When you go to the Vanity Fair party, you kind of fast for the day because of the In-N-Out burger—it’s the best,” she joked. “Even though In-N-Out has branched out to other states now, it really feels like and represents L.A. Since we’re celebrating Hollywood and movie making on Oscar night, having a classic In-N-Out burger feels right.” Olivia Munn is also known to actively seek out an In-N-Out every time she attends the party. “We all wait for that certain point in the night when you see someone walk around with the burger, and then everyone starts saying, ‘Who has the burgers? Where are the burgers?’ That’s a very exciting moment,” she said, laughing. Munn’s only request for next year? “There needs to be milkshakes! We all want the milkshake—that’s my special request. That’s the only way the party could get even better.”
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While New York is currently experiencing record-breaking cold shocks this winter, its restaurant scene has never been hotter. Buzzy new evening lounges—including one from Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann—are opening downtown, whereas uptown sees an arrival of new fine dining restaurants that are stylish rather than stuffy. Then there are the places that can’t really be put in a set hospitality category: like a high-end bar inside a furniture retail store where everything from croissants to couches are for sale. Chez Fifi (Upper East Side) From the team behind critically acclaimed Sushi Noz comes Chez Fifi, a French bistro housed inside an Upper East Side townhouse. The space boasts an impressive art collection—including Calders and Mirós—and menu, serving fare like frog legs, deviled crab filet mignon au poivre, and a blue cheese martini. The jewel box interiors are by Stockholm-based studio Joyn, who also did the three-Michelin-starred Frantzén in the same city. This project marks their U.S. debut. -Elise Taylor Monsieur (East Village) Baz Luhrmann’s East Village bar, Monsieur, feels like a gothic medieval lair meets rock ’n’ roll club: suits of armor sit alongside photographs by New York nightlife legend Dustin Pittman. The elevated light-bites menu includes shrimp cocktail, jamon iberico, grilled cheese, and (fittingly) croquettes monsieur with osetra caviar. -E.T. People’s (Greenwich Village) This former downtown art gallery—which, upon opening in 1926, became the first commercial gallery in the United States—has a new life as People’s, an evening club that’s quickly become a fashionable stop for after-dinner drinks (and dessert, as their banoffee pie has quite the cult following.) Its three different rooms, designed by interiors firm Workstead, pay aesthetic homage to its carriage house past without being beholden to it: the Parlour, where club chairs lie by a burning fireplace; the Salon, complete with a DJ booth and plenty of room to dance; and The Gallery, where a 19th-century bar sits below the original 1920s skylight. -E.T. Zimmi’s (West Village) On a quiet street in the West Village sits Zimmi’s, a Southern French restaurant whose food is served in a warm, simple room with checkered tablecloths and wooden chairs. Homey dishes include poached leeks with egg and dijon mustard, lamb stew, and tagliatelle with chicken ragout and sage. -E.T. Café Zaffri Inside The Twenty Two is Café Zaffri, a new restaurant from the team behind the beloved Raf’s in Soho. Michelin-star chef Mary Attea serves up Lebanese cuisine—think spaghetti with crab and saffron, grilled octopus with harissa, as well as table-side skewer-service—all in a romantic mauve pink room designed by the Post Company. Although one doesn't need to limit themselves to dinner: Café Zaffri also serves both lunch and breakfast. -E.T. The Bar at Quarters (TriBeCa) Jumping off the store-meets-café concept pioneered by Roman and Williams’s La Mercerie, The Bar at Quarters is a natural wine bar within a furniture and home goods retail space by In Common With’s Felicia Hung and Nick Ozemba. Dine on toast with tinned fish—or maybe even indulge in caviar service—while admiring the vintage furniture you are sitting in. You can even do more than that: everything, including the silverware and the tiles in the bathroom—can be purchased. -E.T. Mitsuru (West Village) New in the West Village is Mitsuru, a Japanese restaurant and omakase restaurant with a wine list by cool-kid Dimes Square hotspot Parcelle. It’s a minimalistic menu—don’t expect any fusion rolls here—but an elevated one, with dishes like miso black cod or seared scallop and yuzu sushi. The hole-in-the-wall space also boasts some serious design moments, with a Kagan sofa and a counter crafted from fallen trees harvested from a maple syrup farm. -E.T. Gus and Marty’s If you find yourself in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint autonomous zone craving ouzo and small bites, Gus and Marty’s is a must-visit. This newly opened Greek spot offers moody lighting, a welcoming atmosphere, and a menu built for snacking and sharing. The pita, served piping hot and perfectly flaky, is a standout, perfect on its own or as a companion to just about anything on the menu. With its intimate vibe and lively yet relaxed energy, Gus and Marty’s feels like an instant neighborhood favorite. -Maya Layne Rude Mouth Wine virtuoso and young sommelier Ava Trilling recently opened Rude Mouth, a charming new wine bar on Metropolitan Avenue. An alum of the beloved Brooklyn restaurant The Four Horsemen, known for its award-winning wine list, Trilling brings her expertise to this cozy space. With a large window overlooking the street, Rude Mouth channels the warm simplicity of a European wine bar and offers an inviting selection of curated wines. The menu leans simple yet satisfying, featuring small plates reminiscent of effortless European snacking—think fresh baguettes with butter, cornichons, capicola, and other classic pairings designed. Crafted with accessibility in mind, Rude Mouth welcomes both casual drinkers and dedicated oenophiles alike, making it the perfect spot for gatherings with friends, dinner dates, and late-night digestifs year-round. A must-visit for anyone looking to drink well in good company. -M.L.
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I have a bit of travel advice for you: When you’re in a new city, find a natural wine bar. They’re usually situated in cool, up-and-coming neighborhoods and staffed by interesting folks who can give you recommendations for their favorite shops, restaurants, and things to do. The right bartender or server can be the key to the city, offering advice that you probably won’t find on travel blogs. While the world of wine can sometimes feel elitist and joyless, natural wine is anything but—and it tends to attract open-minded and creative people with a zest for life (and sometimes a slight penchant for anarchy). In conventional large-scale winemaking, big-name wineries often use pesticides, herbicides, and machines to grow and harvest grapes at an industrial scale. During the fermentation process, they’ll use additives to get a predictable product: sulfur to keep the wine from going bad, carbon dioxide for fizz, and in some truly bizarre cases, fish, egg whites, oak flavoring, or even Mega Purple, a super-concentrated food coloring to make the wine look and taste right. But natural wine, also called raw or naked wine, is the wild child of the wine world. It’s made with little or no intervention, letting the grapes and wild yeasts create wines that are bold, funky, and full of character. Natural wine usually comes from small-scale producers who prioritize biodynamic farming practices and eschew monoculture to create a product that highlights the nuances of terroir. It’s farm-to-table, not factory-made. If you’re intimidated by the world of wine, natural wine is a great place to start. Children’s Atlas of Wine, run by James Sligh, offers tastings and classes that dive into specific genres within natural wine, mainly through the lens of geography. “Wine tasting is really two totally different sets of skills,” says Sligh. “Learning how to pay attention to what's in your glass, and—this is the tricky part!—finding language to name what you’re paying attention to. Wine is just another language.” In recent years, the natural wine movement has taken New York City by storm. You’d be hard-pressed to find a wine bar or small plates restaurant below 14th Street that doesn’t offer natural wines. But beyond wine bars, some of the best restaurants in the city are bucking tradition and pairing fine dining with wine that’s fun, irreverent, and playful. Here’s where to experience it for yourself. The O.G. Wine Bars While the city abounds with hip places to sip funky wines, the first stop on your natural wine journey should be at one of the places many consider to be the vanguard of the natural wine movement. Perhaps the most famous is Four Horsemen, a tiny Michelin-starred Williamsburg wine bar that pairs an impressive range of international wines with delectable small plates. In the East Village, Ruffian has an ever-changing menu of bites and wine from lesser-known wine regions like Hungary, Slovenia, Lebanon, and the Republic of Georgia. And The Ten Bells, the go-to Lower East Side date night spot of the 2010s, is one of the pioneering natural wine bars, serving unusual varietals since it opened in 2008. Classic French Bistros Natural wine is now a staple at some of the city’s finest French dining establishments. At Libertine, a whimsical West Village spot that celebrates lesser-known French dishes, natural wine is simply the logical choice. The restaurant highlights local and seasonal ingredients and wanted its wine list to reflect that. “Agricultural cuisine requires agricultural wine,” says owner Cody Pruitt. “Serving conventional, industrial, corporate wine alongside such integrity-driven dishes would be incongruous and nigh-on disrespectful to such a rich culture.” The recently rebooted Le Veau D’Or serves unique wines from small-scale producers alongside impeccable renditions of classic French fare. Though natural wine may seem anachronistic in the retro-chic setting, exemplary steak frites, duck magret, and lobster salad pair perfectly with the energetic and earthy wines chosen by wine director Jorge Riera who reminds diners to “always taste with an open mind.” At Zimmi’s, a new French eatery from chef Maxime Pradié, lesser-known French and Italian varietals complement hyperregional dishes like poireaux vinaigrette and pâté de campagne. The homey country inn vibes are perfect for wine that’s made with love and a little rough around the edges. Unexpected Flavors At some of the city’s dynamic international and fusion restaurants, natural wine is a popular pairing. Adam Gil, wine director at Thai Diner, attributes this to versatility. “Whether it’s a chilled red, skin contact, or pet nat, I think the sensibilities of winemaking without manipulation have allowed wine to be enjoyed in different ways, and in different places.” The range of aromas and flavors in natural wine pair well with the spicy dishes at the cult-favorite Thai restaurant in Nolita. Natural wine is also a focus of the beverage menus at Bonnie’s, the popular Cantonese-American restaurant in Williamsburg, and Meju, the Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in Queens that serves a tasting menu of fermented delicacies. Ilis, the wildly creative Greenpoint restaurant opened by Noma co-founder Mads Refslund, is known for impeccable attention to the provenance and preparation of each ingredient. This holistic approach to fine dining is reflected in the natural wines, sakes, and fortified wines on the menu. Fine Dining While many of the city’s top dining institutions still cater to more conventional oenophiles, a few have embraced the natural wine movement. Chambers, one of the city’s most underrated restaurants, features a menu of rare and unexpected wines curated by the legendary Pascaline Lepeltier, a Master Sommelier known as the “natural wine evangelist.” There, at least 90% of the 1500 bottles of wine, cider, sake, and coferments on the menu are biodynamic or no/low intervention. In Lepeltier’s philosophy, natural wine can fulfill a craving for connection—to people and to the land. “Wine is such a powerful human creation,” she says. “It’s part of civilization.” At Chambers, every glass of wine—and every dish—has a sense of place. Sit at the chef’s counter to experience the magic for yourself in dishes like hamachi crudo with cara cara oranges and miso or boudin blanc with brussels sprouts, paired with a mineral Vouvray. At Vestry, wine director Aidan Cooper aims to show diners the sophisticated side of natural wine. The incredibly extensive wine list leans toward biodynamic wines made with a traditional approach. Less funk and more finesse, a fitting accompaniment to elegant dishes like steak tartare and butter-poached lobster. Hip Hangouts But what if you just want to sit at a bar with friends and travel the world through your wine glass? Downtown New York is prime for an evening of sips and snacks where you can have a casual glass of wine or two without committing to a multicourse dinner. Elvis, on Great Jones Street, only takes walk-ins for wine bar bites and aromatic pours by the glass in a convivial atmosphere. Modeled after a French tabac, Le Dive is an all-day/all-night hangout. The outdoor seating there has some of the best people-watching in Dimes Square. Around the corner, Parcelle feels like the living room of a chic artist friend, while nearby Skin Contact offers fresh and funky wines in a cozy candlelit space. Just make sure to pace yourself—people like to claim that natural wine won’t give you a hangover, but I promise that’s just a myth.
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When you’re thinking of the perfect wine for Valentine’s Day, your mind may immediately turn to date night classics like bold, celebratory bubbles or deep reds—despite the fact the world of wine has never been more innovative and dynamic. After Pinot Noir picked up in the early ’00s, then was overtaken by the rosé craze the following decade, we’re now firmly in the era of chilled reds and funky oranges. (It’s reported that the global orange wine market will grow to $67 million in the next decade.) So, why not treat your date to something a little more exciting this Valentine’s Day? Maybe your V-Day isn’t going according to plan, however: your reservation got canceled, you’re in the middle of a dating slump, your pièce de résistance dessert hasn’t set properly. Or maybe, you simply have no idea what wine to buy. So Vogue has assembled a handful of sommeliers to pair wines with some hypothetical Valentine’s Day scenarios—the sensual, the saucy, and the absurd. There’s Rafa Martin, who began his career at the renowned Spanish winery González Byass before heading to London as a sommelier at Fino, which later evolved into the renowned modern tapas restaurant Barrafina. With over 15 years of experience, Martin now oversees the wine lists at Barrafina, Parrillan, and Bar Daskal. After working as assistant head sommelier at Petrus by Gordon Ramsay, Carolina Siebel is now heading up the recently opened Story Cellar. She enjoys the variety of small growers in Champagne as well as English sparkling wines, and has a particular soft spot for Chenin from the Loire Valley. Martina Marini is a sommelier from Rome, now based in London, with a vast knowledge of Italian terroir—she’s the founder of Rolling Grapes, a wine and events service hosting pop-ups with some of London’s buzziest chefs. Meanwhile, Alex Young is one of the founders of the London restaurant and wine bar Goodbye Horses, as well as the whimsical wine and ice-cream spot, The Dreamery. You don’t need to go too deep into tannic structures or more complicated descriptors (“burnt figs,” “white asparagus”—forget about it) to appreciate these wines, either. This crew of sommeliers can help you pick a wine from 16th-generation winemakers that goes well with your Big Mac, or pinpoint the perfect 35-year-old vines planted in sandstone, clay, and chalk to swill solo. Below, find their wine recommendations to enjoy this Valentine’s Day—whatever situation you might find yourself in. A wine for a long overdue meet-up with a Hinge date you’ve both failed to commit to—until now Martina Marini: Something fun, easygoing, and bubbly. A pét-nat from a red variety feels just right. I am currently loving indigenous Mallorcan grapes, like Escursac, which shines in the Bosquet Rosado from Cati Ribot. Or maybe a lively Lambrusco from Italy, for a touch of playful fizz. You are looking for something light, lively, and slightly fizzy. Just like the chemistry you’re hoping for tonight! Carolina Siebel: Better something gentle and easy so we can focus on the conversation. Why not a Chenin Blanc from South Africa that has just the right amount of fruit and balances the acidity and oak influence, so both the wine and conversation can flow. A wine for when you’re cooking for someone, but your cooking is mid Rafa Martin: If I’m cooking for someone and it doesn’t turn out as expected, I’d open up a bottle of Flor de Muga Rosé. Made in Rioja Alta, this is a grown-up rosé with depth, structure, and enough elegance to impress…Even if the food doesn’t. Marini: You’ll need a bottle that does the heavy lifting. Something bold, complex, and conversation-worthy, so they’re too busy sipping to notice your ‘experimental’ seasoning choices. Go for a full-bodied white with texture and depth, like a silky, lees-aged Grüner Veltliner from Austria, a luscious yet zesty Chenin from the Loire, or a structured, mineral-driven Verdicchio from Italy. If red is the move, an aged Montepulciano from Abruzzo brings dark fruit and earthy charm, while a classic Rioja Crianza, with its warm spice and subtle oak, is always a safe—and seductive—bet. Young: Distract, distract, distract! The appropriately named We Forget Too Easily from Anders Frederik Steen. It’s so weird and beautiful—it escapes definition. They won’t be able to think about anything else, let alone your pesto pasta that they will indeed forget too easily. A wine for when you didn’t manage to get a walk-in table, so you’re eating McDonald’s back at your apartment Marini: This calls for a Crémant! Something refreshing, not as pricey or serious as Champagne, but perfect for cutting through the grease. You still deserve a treat, and show your class by going for a Crémant from the Jura, like Laura Bourdy’s 100% Pinot Noir. Earthy, mineral-driven, with a touch of oxidative fruit and plenty of character. It’s just the right amount of indulgence. Young: You can make up for anything with a good champagne. At Goodbye Horses, we like Chartogne-Taillet, Saint Anne. Maybe add a dollop or two of caviar to your Big Mac as well. A wine to order when the date is going very well… Siebel: A Mencia from the north of Spain—it is charming and strikes the balance between dark fruit and lighter body. Marini: Time to elevate the mood with something elegant, refined, and a little special. A Syrah from the Rhône Valley is a great choice as it's sophisticated, complex, but still approachable. Plenty of producers, like Eric Texier or Domaine Gramenon, offer more affordable options without compromising on quality. Smooth, deep, and a little seductive, just like the vibe. Martin: Stick with bubbles—always. Llopart Brut Reserva is a seriously special Cava, aged for three months in bottle. It’s fresh, crisp, and complex. The perfect way to keep the good energy going. …and when the date is going very badly Siebel: Might as well get something out of it—a red Burgundy, and I am always looking for a good example from Vosne-Romanee or Volnay. Marini: Get something cheap, easy-drinking, and quick to finish so you can make a swift exit. Aim for the second or third wine down the list—not too pricey, but not suspiciously cheap either. A simple, gluggable red or a crisp white to sip (or gulp) while you strategize your escape. Martin: O Rosal from Terras Gauda. A powerful, structured wine that has heaps of character. I really believe that a glass of this will dissipate any awkwardness or tension. A wine for date night on the sofa with a spicy reality TV show and an even spicier takeaway Young: It’s Valentine’s—it's meant to be spicy. High-alcohol low acid wines amplify capsaicin’s burn, so to get even spicier, let’s open Domaine Gramenon's Côtes-du-Rhône, La Sagesse. Marini: When the drama is hot, and the food is hotter, you need a wine that can handle both. Muscat or Gewürztraminer based wines are a go-to. They bring aromatics, freshness, and just enough sweetness to balance the heat. Skin contact wines also work wonders: especially those from Alsace, like Christian Binner’s Saveurs Macérées. This blend of Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Chasselas, a touch of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Riesling has a delicate maceration for just a week, which is enough to add texture and depth without the heavy tannins that could clash with spicy dishes. Basically, you want a wine that plays nice with the spice but doesn’t steal the spotlight from the real drama on screen. Martin: Laderas del Norte from Bodegas Arzuaga—this high-altitude, single-vineyard red has great acidity that cuts through and stands up to the spice. Siebel: In reality TV shows you never know what's going to happen, so I’d want to stick to something familiar and still very drinkable. Riesling is the predictable option, but it does it so well. I would probably reach for a German one, like from Schäfer-Fröhlich or Clemens Busch. A wine to fend off dating fatigue with friends Young: Get that magnum out. You deserve it. P’tit Poussot, L’Octavin. Marini: Always Beaujolais! This is the ultimate feel-good wine that’s easygoing yet full of character, the kind of bottle that brings people together and lifts the mood. Beaujolais isn’t just for November—it’s a year-round hug in a glass. You can go for something lighter and juicy like a Beaujolais Villages, perfect for carefree sipping, or step it up with a more structured and complex Cru like Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent, with a little more depth of intrigue. Either way, it’s the perfect wine to toast to friendship and forget about bad dates (or celebrate the good ones.). Martin: Muga Selección Especial—by now, my friends always expect me to bring a really great bottle when we get together. I’d go for this classic Rioja, aged for 18 months in foudres. It’s serious, yet approachable. A perfect wine for good company and great conversation. A wine to drink solo, because not everyone has a Valentine Martin: Vibrant from Llopart—this pét-nat rosé is exclusive to Barrafina, Parrillan, and Bar Daskal and simply too good to share. If I’m opening a bottle at home on my own, it’s this one. Young: The wine is your only companion. So you need something living, full of energy, and with a lot of complexity, that way it can keep you guessing and entertained for the evening. Something deep from Radikon maybe—let’s say the Ribolla Gialla. Marini: A Blanc de Blancs is the perfect choice: smooth, creamy, and effortlessly elegant. The fine bubbles and crisp acidity keep things fresh, while the soft, buttery texture makes it feel like a well-deserved treat. This is the kind of bottle that turns a solo night into something special. A wine to impress a wine snob who’s handed you the list to choose Marini: A Listán Blanco (Palomino) from Tenerife is a great wildcard pick, with its volcanic minerality and salty, textured depth that’ll catch their attention. If you really want to flex, go for an oxidative wine from Jura, something like a Vin Jaune. Perfect to finish the meal, especially paired with a selection of funky, well-aged cheeses. A choice that says, “Yes, I know exactly what I’m doing.” Siebel: A Portuguese field blend or multi-vintage wine that shows itself from its best side, impressing with complexity, but not conforming to classical standards. A splendid example is the Quinta dos Carvalhais, Dão Branco Especial. Young: Offer up Babycham with a straight face. Make them question everything.
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Selecting a paint color can be a paralyzing task: with seemingly millions shades of white alone, how can one possibly decide? Paint shades convey multitudes: colors can be energizing or evocative, cozy or cutesy. And in the world of interiors, paint colors are more than just a backdrop—they can be a statement, a mood-setter, or a signature. So, we decided to sit down with Joa Studholme, color curator and creator of some of the most storied Farrow & Ball shades in history (Dead Salmon, anyone?) and create the ultimate guide to selecting paint colors for your home. The good news: “There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to decorating,” Studholme says. “Luckily, we all gravitate to different styles, live in different light conditions and like different colors—the world would be a much duller place if this were not the case.” However, Studholme notes, it’s wise to bear these three key elements in mind when decorating: the architectural elements of the room, the light, and your own personal style. How to connect the color palette with your home Every room is different, and choice of color should be influenced by the particular conditions of the space: how the color functions, the room’s architecture, and where exactly the color is used. Most people want to create a flow through their home: “[Flow] produces an unchallenging environment, where you can drift from room to room without being jolted by the use of color,” Studholme says. This can be achieved in a number of ways, whether you want a pared-down, simple feel or a fantastic riot of color. The simplest way, Studholme suggests, is to use one group of neutrals or a tone on tone graduation of the same color, such as Pigeon, Blue Gray, Muzzle and Cromarty from Farrow & Ball, for example. This color drenching will result in a totally harmonious look—but it’s always best to use the stronger shades in the darker areas and the lightest in the light filled rooms, Studholme warns. If you want to use strong colors, it’s best to work floor by floor, taking into account which rooms you can see from the same vantage point in the hall. “If the colors used in these rooms have the same intensity, then they will sit sympathetically together,” Studholme explains. “And of course one trim color and/or ceiling color throughout the house does wonders for creating a flow!” Dark vs. light—and when to use which “It is always tempting to turn to light colors for small, dark spaces, but this generally results in a dull, visually unappetizing room,” Studholme warns. Although a strong color might seem counterintuitive, the results can be wonderfully theatrical and much more exciting than any attempt to create light by painting a room white. Conversely, large, bright rooms are best celebrated with lighter tones, which then lead to glimpses of intriguing darker colors in smaller adjacent rooms. On calming colors and statement colors Calming colors tend to be warm—“they feel like they are giving you a hug,” Studholme says. Blush and plaster pinks like Scallop and Setting Plaster from Farrow & Ball are huge favorites for creating the ultimate in tranquil spaces. The same applies to colors that have a strong connection with nature. When subtle blue Cromarty or its green equivalent Eddy are painted in rooms, “it literally makes your shoulders drop,” she sighs. Studholme’s favorite statement colors right now are strong but fairly muted: Duster and Marmelo. “Both are rich and earthy without being overwhelming; despite being bold, they have a quietness which sits particularly well in the homes of 2025.” Color’s effect on ambiance and mood Post pandemic, when so many of us are spending more time at home, it makes sense to use lighter colors in the rooms we use during the day and stronger colors to retreat to at night. In this way, Studholme says, “we celebrate natural light and distinguish our working day from our relaxing evenings. We naturally feel more active in fresh, lighter colored rooms and more cozy in intimate, darker spaces.” Natural light, artificial light, and everything in between In terms of discerning how the natural light falls, it’s simple, Studholme says: “This is just a case of standing in the space at different times of day and looking at how the light falls on the walls.” Make note of where the sun is hitting and at what time, and come back to visit a few times to check to ensure it feels the same each time. Artificial lights like incandescent, LED, and fluorescent can significantly affect how paint colors appear by casting different color temperatures. “Warm lights (like incandescent) tend to enhance warm colors and make cooler colors look a little muted, while cool lights (like fluorescent) can make warm colors look dull and bring cooler colors to life. It is exactly the same principles as colors used in sunny south facing rooms or flatter north facing light,” Studholme says. And temperature makes a difference too—but not celsius or Fahrenheit. Lighting color temperature, measured in Kelvin, describes the warmth or coolness of light, with lower values indicating warmer, yellowish light and higher values indicating cooler, bluish-white light. Different light temperatures significantly affect how colors appear, with warmer light temperatures enhancing reds, oranges and yellows, while cooler light temperatures make blues and green seem more vibrant. How to test paint colors How color behaves in relation to other colors and in different light conditions is extremely complex, and nothing beats seeing them in situ, Studholme says. Your perception of the color will almost certainly change when you look at it in different light conditions and as the day progresses. “The fact that the color on the walls alters when a cloud passes over the sun and looks different across the seasons is what makes the paint feel alive. It is this quality that gives an interior a unique sense of depth and atmosphere,” Studholme explains. Some guidelines to begin? Don’t paint sample colors directly onto the wall—“it’s very distracting and they are difficult to remove,” according to Studholme. Paint two coats of a color onto a couple of pieces of paper or card—the larger, the better—and place them in two different areas of the room, and then check them at different times throughout the day to see how the color changes. “You’ll be amazed,” she says. If you are decorating a space used exclusively at night, look at the colors with the curtains closed; you might even light a candle. And it is very important to look at your wall color alongside your trim color in the right proportions—this will affect the way you perceive both tones. Room proportions and how they influence your color selection Color can appear to alter the proportions of a room visually, effectively changing its size and shape. Lighter colors are often best suited to big rooms because they maximize the space and won’t feel overpowering, Studholme advises. Making a bold statement in a large room can be daunting: “Patterns and strong colors can be overwhelming, and in very large doses, it can also counterbalance the light,” she says. Darker tones will enhance a small room and make it feel more intimate. If you’re trying to make a small space feel bigger, consider using strong colors. In a confined space, they can disguise the corners so that you can’t read the boundaries, and this, in turn, will make the room feel larger; restricting the number of colors you use will also make it feel bigger. And if you have the unusual conundrum of needing to make your room appear smaller, then a strongly contrasting trim color, either lighter or darker than the walls, will help to define the space so that it doesn’t feel endless. Be wary of feature walls, Studholme warns, which often cause havoc by playing with a room’s proportions. Painting a strong color on the two longest walls in a room will make them appear closer together, giving the impression of a narrower space; in contrast, a dark wall at one end (or both ends) of a long, thin corridor or room will also have the effect of bringing the walls closer, making the space seem squarer in shape. Commonly made color selection mistakes, and how to avoid them “Sampling is absolutely key to decorating and should never be skipped,” Studholme says matter-of-factly. Defaulting to a ubiquitous white for the ceiling and trim is also a great mistake, as you can both ruin or enhance a scheme with the right trim color. But most importantly, Studholme says, “you should follow your heart and not the latest trends—it is such a huge mistake to choose colors that you don't feel comfortable with. Clashing is all in the eye of the beholder, as far as I am concerned.” How to Choose Paint Colors—and Find the Right Shade for Your Home At this year’s Milan Design Week, one name in particular kept cropping up everywhere: Faye Toogood. The British designer had a bumper year, presenting new collections for Tacchini and Noritake, appearing on billboards for Archiproducts’ 25th anniversary, and receiving the Designer of the Year award from EDIDA—as well as flitting between various launches and events all throughout the week. And now, hot on the heels of her Salone whirlwind, Toogood is arriving in New York City for not one, but two concurrent and connected exhibitions split across some of the city’s hottest design galleries. “I’m a bit sick of myself,” Toogood jokes to Vogue, before acknowledging that while her very busy past 18 months have proved impressively fruitful, there’s been little time left for genuine creativity. Daydreamed ideas and late-night work sessions became her only opportunity to exercise that muscle, and the result is Lucid Dream, which opens at both The Future Perfect and TIWA Select on May 2, 2025. These two separate yet entwined collections both showcase her love of hand-painting, a skill from her fine art days that she recently rediscovered after going “years and years” without picking up a paintbrush. The incorporation of this rekindled talent into her design work signals a shift in Toogood’s output. “I’m on a precipice of change in terms of my work,” she says. “I’m trying to take myself in a different direction. And I think this is the first step in whatever direction it’s going to be.” The designer explains that the co-presented sister shows are manifestations of her own “left brain vs. right brain” thinking, and represent the dualities of the ethereal vs. the visceral; emotional intuition vs. dream logic. At The Future Perfect’s grand, immaculate West Village townhouse, several of Toogood’s best-loved designs are covered in her boldly colorful, expressive markings. The instantly recognizable, cast-fiberglass Roly Poly Dining Table and Chair; the plump, upholstered Gummy Armchairs, Sofa and Footstools; and the rounded, intersecting Palette Tables have all received this special treatment—along with a new set of wooden folding screens, a version of the Palette Console in aluminum, and a large mobile in the same metal. “The challenge was letting myself loose in a daydream-like way, with just paint and color and hands and brushes and pens and squeegees and sponges,” she remembers, noting she was egged on by The Future Perfect founder David Alhadeff. “For a week, I just went for it.”
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The Upper West Side has always marched to the beat of its own drum. Unlike the high-gloss glamour of the Upper East Side or the Downtown frenzy of lower Manhattan, this stretch between Central Park and the Hudson River moves at a pace that feels distinctly—deliberately—neighborly. It’s a place where brownstones are lined with dog-walkers and stroller-pushing parents, where pre-war apartment buildings house artists and academics, and where a certain kind of old-school New Yorker still clings to their rent-controlled one-bedroom with a near-religious devotion. Change comes slowly here, if at all. While Downtown restaurants cycle through trends at breakneck speed, the Upper West Side has remained home to institutions that have fed generations—Café Luxembourg, with its Parisian glow, still humming since 1983; Barney Greengrass, where sturgeon has reigned supreme since 1908; and The Leopard at des Artistes, where the walls whisper stories of a bygone New York through Howard Chandler Christy’s ethereal murals. In a city that often seems to reinvent itself overnight, the Upper West Side stands as a reminder that some things—especially a perfect pastrami sandwich or a well-shaken martini—are best left exactly as they are. Here, find Vogue’s guide to the best restaurants on the Upper West Side. Cafe Luxembourg The Upper West Side may be in a constant state of flux—cozy bookstores giving way to condos, beloved bakeries replaced by bank branches—but Café Luxembourg has remained an unshakable pillar of the neighborhood since 1983. This Paris-by-way-of-Broadway boîte first opened under the direction of Keith McNally and Lynn Wagenknecht (the duo behind The Odeon), and in the decades since, it has perfected the art of being a New York classic: not too stuffy, not too trendy, just perfectly poised. Its soft-glow lighting, red leather banquettes, and brass fixtures feel untouched by time—though the menu, a greatest hits of French-American comfort (think: frisée aux lardons, moules frites, and a burger that rivals its downtown counterpart at Balthazar), remains as sharp as ever. If the Upper West Side has a main character, Café Luxembourg is surely it. Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi Lincoln Center has long been a beacon of high culture, a place where tuxedoed patrons sip Champagne before an evening of Verdi or Balanchine. But with the arrival of Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, the institution has been infused with something new: a bold, electrifying celebration of New York’s diasporic soul. Opened in late 2022, the restaurant is a deeply personal project from Onwuachi, who first made waves on Top Chef before cementing himself as one of America’s most exciting culinary talents. Named after his sister, Tatiana is a love letter to his Bronx childhood, to the flavors of the Caribbean and West Africa, and to the very essence of what makes New York, New York. The menu reads like a mixtape of cultures and cuisines: egusi dumplings swirled in a deeply spiced tomato broth, truffle-laced chopped cheese sliders, braised oxtail that falls apart at the mere suggestion of a fork. Even the seafood—like the signature crab dumplings—feels like a nod to a city built on reinvention. The space itself is just as vibrant, with warm wood tones, soft lighting, and a soundtrack that hums with the energy of hip-hop, jazz, and Afrobeats. It’s not just a restaurant; it’s a cultural moment. The Upper West Side has never quite seen a dining destination like this—one that honors the past while redefining the future. And judging by the impossible-to-get reservations, New Yorkers are ready for it. Barney Greengrass The Sturgeon King reigns supreme. Since 1908, Barney Greengrass has been a shrine to a holy trinity of Jewish appetizing: smoked fish, bagels, and black-and-white cookies, all served with a no-nonsense charm that has somehow survived the city’s shifting tides. Opened in Harlem before migrating downtown in 1929, the deli retains its throwback charm—worn Formica tables, waiters who have worked there for decades, and an aversion to credit cards that feels positively quaint in the era of Apple Pay. Even the wallpaper, a whimsical French Quarter motif, seems to exist outside of time. It’s the kind of place where you’ll find an Upper West Side octogenarian reading the Times beside a Hollywood A-lister who made the crosstown schlep for a bagel piled with sable. The only constant in New York is change—but at Barney Greengrass, it’s resisted at every delicious turn. (For more, read The New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick’s ode to Barney Greengrass in Bon Appétit back in 2019.) The Leopard at des Artistes A meal at The Leopard at des Artistes is as much about art as it is about food. Housed inside the historic Hotel des Artistes—a prewar haven for painters, musicians, and writers—the restaurant carries the legacy of its predecessor, Café des Artistes, a power-lunch hideaway for Manhattan’s cultural set. Today, The Leopard preserves that old-world glamour, its walls still covered in Howard Chandler Christy’s mythic murals of frolicking nymphs (their once nicotine-stained hues now restored to their original brilliance). While the setting evokes the past, the menu is firmly rooted in Southern Italy, with plates like slow-braised heritage pork ragù and eggplant timballo that feel lifted from a long, wine-fueled lunch on the Amalfi Coast. The city has lost many of its grand dining rooms to time, but The Leopard remains, proof that some institutions don’t just endure—they evolve. Lincoln Ristorante Modernist in both design and culinary approach, Lincoln Ristorante sits at the edge of Lincoln Center like a sleek glass jewel box, offering one of the most striking dining rooms in the city. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around the space, offering diners a front-row seat to the spectacle of Josie Robertson Plaza—ballerinas dashing across the courtyard, music lovers in black tie gathering before a show, the energy of the Upper West Side at its most rarefied. Inside, the food is equally polished. The kitchen, helmed by Chef Artem Orlovskyy, takes a refined approach to Italian cuisine, focusing on pristine ingredients and expert technique. Handmade pasta is a highlight—silky ribbons of pappardelle tossed with rich lamb ragù, delicate agnolotti filled with seasonal purées, tagliatelle with white truffle in the colder months. Seafood is also a standout, particularly the crudo selection, which showcases impeccably fresh fish with just the right touch of olive oil and citrus. It’s Italian dining at its most elegant—an experience that feels in perfect harmony with the artistic grandeur of its Lincoln Center surroundings. Zabar’s The Jewish appetizing temple that is Zabar’s needs no introduction. But beyond the crowded aisles of its Amsterdam Avenue mothership—where smoked salmon is sliced with the precision of a neurosurgeon and the cheese selection could rival a European market—there’s the humble, no-frills Zabar’s Café. This is where you’ll find the regulars, those who have been sipping coffee and nibbling on bagels for decades, undeterred by the laminated trays and self-service setup. The food is simple but unimpeachable: thick, well-toasted bagels slathered with cream cheese, flaky rugelach still warm from the oven, and, of course, perfectly brewed coffee. It’s the antithesis of the sleek, Instagrammable cafés of downtown—a spot where nostalgia isn’t manufactured, but simply exists. Café Fiorello If Lincoln Center is the Upper West Side’s grand stage, then Café Fiorello is its unofficial green room. For over 40 years, this Italian institution has been a pre-theater power player, a post-performance refuge, and an all-day affair where the dining room hums with an energy that’s equal parts old New York and modern Manhattan. The appeal? Towering platters of antipasti—briny marinated artichokes, plump olives, tangy pickled peppers—all arranged in a dazzling spread that tempts even the most decisive diner into over-ordering. There’s also Fiorello’s signature thin-crust pizza, charred just enough at the edges, and a pasta selection that reads like an ode to Roman trattorias. While the restaurant has a certain throwback charm—red banquettes, white tablecloths, tuxedoed waiters—it never feels outdated. Instead, it remains a timeless classic, the kind of place where you might spot a Broadway legend reviewing their script over linguine alle vongole or a table of old friends stretching their post-opera meal deep into the night. Salumeria Rosi With only a handful of tables and a menu that reads more like an ode to Italy than a standard restaurant lineup, Salumeria Rosi is as close as you’ll get to a hidden gem in a neighborhood where most spots are well-trodden institutions. The brainchild of Tuscan chef Cesare Casella, this sliver of a restaurant offers a transportive experience, where platters of prosciutto and speck arrive on wooden boards, and a glass of Barolo feels like a prerequisite. The beauty of Salumeria Rosi lies in its simplicity: bite-sized supplì oozing with mozzarella, truffled mushroom polenta, and burrata so creamy it practically melts on the plate. The atmosphere is intimate and candlelit, a reminder that the best meals often don’t require spectacle—just quality ingredients, a great glass of wine, and a table small enough to feel like it’s just you and the food. Nice Matin There’s something undeniably cinematic about Nice Matin—the kind of restaurant where you can imagine a screenwriter nursing an espresso on the sun-drenched terrace while mulling over the next great New York film. A stalwart on 79th and Amsterdam, this Provençal-inflected bistro is beloved for its effortless French charm: the wicker bistro chairs, the chalkboard specials, the waiters who deliver your frites with just the right amount of Parisian indifference. While the menu has plenty of Gallic classics—steak au poivre, escargots swimming in garlic butter—it’s also a great spot for a burger—this is the spot that first gave us the unapologetically messy “5 Napkin Burger” after all. Whether you’re stopping by for a post-theater meal or a leisurely weekend brunch, Nice Matin is one of those places that feels like it’s always been there—and hopefully, always will be. Dagon Broadway and 91st Street isn’t exactly the city’s culinary frontier, but Dagon has made the stretch one of the most exciting dining destinations on the Upper West Side. A rare gem in a neighborhood known for its nostalgia, this modern Middle Eastern eatery brings bold flavors and a sunny disposition to an area that can sometimes feel, well, a bit beige. Chef Ari Bokovza pulls inspiration from the Levant, with dishes like impossibly fluffy Yemenite kubaneh bread (served with whipped feta and a harissa-spiked tomato sauce), charcoal-grilled octopus with green zhug, and sumac-brined rotisserie chicken that falls off the bone. The space is bright and airy, punctuated by colorful tiles and a circular bar that invites lingering. It’s a refreshing alternative to the cozy-but-dim brasseries that dominate the area—a place where vibrant flavors and design work in tandem to shake up the Upper West Side’s status quo. The Milling Room Some restaurants grab you with their food; others with their ambiance. The Milling Room, nestled inside a cavernous, skylit space that once housed the grand Endicott Hotel, does both. The room itself is breathtaking—a soaring, glass-paneled atrium that feels at once expansive and intimate. It’s the kind of space that makes every meal feel like an occasion. But what sets The Milling Room apart is its commitment to seasonality, with a menu that showcases locally sourced ingredients in refined but unfussy ways. A plate of Hudson Valley duck might arrive paired with roasted sunchokes and cherry gastrique, while a bowl of house-made pasta gets the perfect hit of acidity from preserved lemon. It’s contemporary American fare done right—elegant, thoughtful, and deeply satisfying.
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In a city that’s perhaps better known for its classic cocktails than afternoon tea, finding an atmospheric nook in New York City to sip on Earl Grey while savoring scones and sweets requires some research. Be that as it may, landmark spots with a tradition of afternoon tea do exist, beginning—of course—with The Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel, where it’s been enjoyed at the iconic Fifth Avenue address along Central Park for over a century. Also rooted in history is the nearby Russian Tea Room, a classic filming spot you might remember from the likes of Tootsie and Manhattan. Unapologetically lavish with its red leather banquets and 24-carat gold ceiling, it’s a tourist-friendly destination no doubt, but it’s still an NYC tea that everyone should experience. If you’re seeking lower-key locales, you’ll find those here, too. From a tranquil second-story Japanese tea parlor in the East Village to a charming British-run restaurant serving up traditional fare that’s been a West Village staple since the ‘90s, there’s plenty to choose from. And for days when only the finest will do, take note of the city’s luxury hotels weaving afternoon teas into their offerings, such as The Baccarat Hotel’s crystal-bedecked service or The Carlyle’s design-forward parlor that’ll make you feel like a king (or queen) for the day. For an idyllic day of leisure, read on for the best afternoon teas in NYC. The Whitby Hotel For an experience that delights the senses, head for The Whitby Hotel’s Orangery for afternoon tea (they also serve it in the property’s colorful restaurant). You’ll find smoked salmon and crème fraîche sandwiches as well homemade scones accompanied by clotted cream and preserves—all served on Kit Kemp’s Sailor’s Farewell Wedgwood china. If you’re so inclined, opt for a glass of Joseph Perrier Brut, or even upgrade to the Royal Tea, which includes caviar with warm blinis, crème fraîche, and fine herbs. The Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel The Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel has been the gold standard for afternoon tea in New York City for over a century. A recent renovation by architect Thierry Despont further enriches the experience with ceiling-high palm trees and textural design details such as trellising and cane accents—all punctuated by a soaring stained glass dome. Such an exquisite afternoon tea calls for elevated attire, which is already sorted thanks to the property’s dedicated Pinterest inspiration board. Nibble on savory sandwiches and freshly-baked scones washed down by a selection of loose-leaf teas and Louis Roederer Champagne, all within this iconic setting just steps away from Central Park. Tea & Sympathy This family business has been a West Village staple since the ’90s and is run by a mostly English staff. For those in search of an authentic, unfussy tea experience, you’ll get it here—Tea & Sympathy prides itself on a traditional British afternoon tea with all of the trimmings, served on china that almost never matches. Especially of note is the slice of Victoria sponge cake, made fresh each morning. Afterward, head next door to their British grocery shop to pick up sweets and loose-leaf teas to take home. From $50 The Carlyle Tuck yourself away for a lavish afternoon inside The Gallery at The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel. This regal nook is regarded as ‘the living room’ of the iconic Upper East Side hotel and takes interior cues from the sultan’s dining room at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul with its jewel-toned textiles and wallpaper (designed under the creative direction of decorating legend, Renzo Mongiardino). Once you settle in, expect a menu of classics with a modern twist, such as Hudson Valley foie gras torchon and house-made pâtés, along with imported teas, scones with authentic Devonshire cream, finger sandwiches, and fresh pastries. If you wish, you can even purchase the china tea set, which is inspired by The Gallery’s hand-painted wallpaper. From $90 BG Restaurant Conclude a day of shopping at Bergdorf Goodman with an afternoon tea at the retailer’s elegant restaurant located on the seventh floor. The Kelly Wearstler interiors take inspiration from old-world salons, with pieces well-suited for this Beaux Arts building overlooking Central Park and the Pulitzer Fountain. Take the hooded bergère chairs for example, which are also known as ‘whispering chairs’ and are intended to encourage intimate conversation. Or a De Gournay custom-designed turquoise silk wall covering with a chinoiserie pattern, which creates a drawing room ambiance. While tasting the sandwiches, scones, and sweets, try the restaurant’s most popular tea—Jardin Bleu—which is a blend of teas from India and China flavored with rhubarb, wild strawberry, and cornflower petals. From $75 Blue Box Café Live out your Holly Golightly fantasies at Daniel Boulud’s Blue Box Café, tucked inside Tiffany’s 5th Avenue flagship store. Awash in robin’s egg blue, the Peter Marino-designed space features artwork inspired by archival drawings of jewelry, while the glassware and dinnerware are collaborations with Riedel and Bernardaud respectively. Menu offerings are equally enticing, choose from an assortment of Bellocq teas to enjoy with your sandwiches (quail egg toast and lobster roll are highlights) plus traditional scones, pastries, and cookies including madeleines and canelés. From $98 Baccarat Hotel New York It’s difficult to imagine a more opulent environment to enjoy high tea from than the Baccarat Hotel. A celebration of crystal, the Grand Salon sets a glamorous tone for your afternoon with its cascading chandeliers and plush velvet and silk seating. The property’s tea service is curated to mirror historic royal personalities, including the Prince of Wales tea, Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly tea, and the King Louis XV caviar tea. Choose from savories like Maine lobster and caviar sandwiches and decadent sweets such as a Sacher torte, all while sipping from exquisite glassware. From $125 King’s Carriage House The Upper East Side and afternoon tea seem to go hand in hand—especially when you’re talking about Kings’ Carriage House. This tea house celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is situated in a two-story building that was once a—ding, ding, ding—carriage house. Mirrored after dining experiences in an English or Irish manor house, Elizabeth King (proprietor and executive chef) hosts tea lovers within four intimate rooms. You’ll have a few menu options to choose from (including gluten-free, vegan, and nut-free options) plus a classic selection of tea blends to pair with your bites. Nibble on pinwheels of oak-smoked Scottish salmon and poppy seed tea cakes while pretending you’re living in the 19th century. From $46 The St. Regis New York You’ll have to book a stay in order to enjoy the afternoon tea at The St. Regis New York—but then again, that sounds like a very good idea. Offered only as a bespoke in-room experience, the property’s tea at this legendary Fifth Avenue address pays homage to its history. When the hotel opened in 1904, its founding matriarch and Gilded Age socialite Caroline Astor took a liking to having afternoon tea served on-property (specifically to her closest friends in the drawing room for society gossip). Guests can continue this ritual with a private afternoon tea for two served by the hotel’s butler service, including bites like lobster salad sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and sweets such as lemon tartelettes and assorted French macarons. From $115 Mandarin Oriental New York Care for afternoon tea with views of Central Park? Slip into Mandarin Oriental and soar straight up to the 35th floor. The MO Lounge offers a daily tea with a menu driven by of-the-moment ingredients. With each change of season, the pastry team (led by Executive Pastry Chef Ron Paprocki) introduces new flavors to the tea stand. From $125 Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad Tea time happens 500 feet up in the sky at Nubeluz, the Chef José Andrés-helmed destination within The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. High tea is available on the weekends and the flavors are as equally show-stopping as the setting, including the option to begin your experience with Champagne and caviar service (as one does). You’ll want to save room for both sweet and savory, as both offer top-notch highlights including foie gras gougère, truffle grilled cheese, Hokkaido citrus and cheese tarts, and matcha yuzu roll cakes. From $110 Brooklyn High Low With locations in both Prospect Heights and Park Slope, Brooklyn High Low offers the rare opportunity to enjoy afternoon tea in a borough other than Manhattan. The vibe is understated and charming, with vintage and upcycled design details peppered throughout the space (like the Park Slope location, which is nestled under a stoop). The tea house offers a few different services, beginning with a traditional cream tea available every Friday with a baked scone and vegetarian tea sandwiches. If you’re feeling more ambitious, book the Grand Heights tea—soup, crumpets, sandwiches, salads, desserts, unlimited tea, and even a parting souvenir. From $30 Crosby Street Hotel What better way to spend an afternoon in SoHo than sinking into a brightly patterned chair at the Crosby Street Hotel and sipping on tea? Truffled egg sandwiches and strawberry pavlova are menu highlights, as is the whimsical Kit Kemp Mythical Creatures Wedgwood china that it’s served on. If you’re keen to linger, add on a glass of bubbly from Veuve Clicquot. From $75 Ladurée Francophiles take note: the tea service at Ladurée is as magical as you’d think it would be. In a true celebration of art de vivre, the Parisian brand’s Soho outpost delivers on the flavors one might expect, including iconic macarons, light and fresh finger sandwiches, and fresh scones. It all goes down perfectly with their signature Kir Royale mocktail, as well as the soothing tea selection. From $70 Cha-an Tea House This low-key, serene tea house in the East Village offers a delicious pivot from the expected British-informed tea service. Escape the sidewalk cacophony and enter on the second floor; then, once inside, expect clean design with wooden tables, washi-paper lamps, and floral accents. The flavors are a blend of traditional Japanese with sweets of the West, like a hojicha (green tea) cookie, orange custard hojicha creme puff, or yuzu dango. Savory bites are equally standout—mini salmon don, inari with cucumber and tomato, and egg salad milk bun sandwiches are all on the menu. As for tea? Enjoy slow sipping on Cha-an’s roasted green or rose green flavors. From $68 American Girl Café Treat your little ones to a glitzy afternoon tea at the American Girl Café at Rockefeller Plaza. The experience has all the trappings of a traditional tea, but with kid-friendly twists, like an interactive craft activity for each child seated at the table. The menu includes tea sandwiches, sweet treats, and a pot of tea—and guests are encouraged to bring along their American Girl Doll to join the fun. From $45 The Wall Street Hotel Nestled in the heart of the city’s lively Financial District, The Wall Street Hotel’s afternoon tea takes place in the property’s colorful Lounge on Pearl. Beside soaring, ceiling-high windows and surrounded by jewel-toned interiors, guests can enjoy cucumber-wasabi and deviled egg salad tea sandwiches followed by apricot-thyme scones and almond and cranberry financiers. Sip on their extensive list of soothing teas (African Solstice and Blueberry Merlot are highlights) or indulge in a tea-inspired cocktail. From $65 Russian Tea Room Like stepping back in time, an afternoon at the Russian Tea Room is an immersive feast for the senses. It was founded by the Russian Imperial Ballet in 1926 and is recognizable by its whimsical decor informed by its home country (namely the red leather banquettes and 24-karat gold ceiling). These gilded hallways have played host to iconic films including Tootsie and Manhattan, and it’s been said Madonna worked as a coat check here before finding fame. As for the menu, if you’re gluten-free or vegetarian, you’ll take delight in ordering from their special menu. Otherwise, expect classic hits like savory finger sandwiches and pillowy cupcakes. From $115 Aman New York Located within one of the city’s most beautiful Beaux-Arts buildings featuring a Neoclassical façade and French Renaissance detailing, Aman New York sits on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in the historic Crown Building. In the fall of 2023, the property introduced a new way to experience the property’s elegance with an East-meets-West afternoon tea. You’ll also notice a wine director is close by ready to offer a curated selection of Champagne to accompany the tea service, which is available on weekdays at The Lounge Bar or on The Garden Terrace. From $148 MarieBelle Tucked inside this luxury chocolate shop on Broome Street is the transportive Cacao Bar with its vintage furnishings, ornate chandeliers, and collection of antique clocks. While you might come here for a box of truffles or freshly made hot chocolate, the afternoon tea service is equally heavenly. There are the usual suspects—finger sandwiches, scones, pastries, and the like—but the moelleux au chocolat (molten lava cake) is a must-order and is served with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Of course, other chocolate delicacies can be ordered during the afternoon tea service, from iced chocolate to an Aztec dark hot chocolate. From $70 Le Café Louis Vuitton Follow up your fashion fix with an afternoon tea at Louis Vuitton’s cafe (in partnership with STARR Restaurants). “Luxury Snacking” is the concept for the tea service, with seasonal and sustainably sourced bites led by executive chef Christophe Bellanca (of Essential by Christophe) and executive pastry chef Mary George (of Daniel). Luxury snacks include black truffle egg salad sandwich and mini platings of signature desserts such as hazelnut entremets—all enjoyed while surrounded by over 600 titles (a nod to the cafe’s library design). From $110 Majorelle A setting that feels plucked from a pastoral poem, the afternoon tea at Majorelle (in collaboration with Dior Maison) is a whimsical feast for the senses. The service is featured on the Lily of the Valley tableware collection (regarded as one of Christian Dior’s most prized blooms) and guests are enveloped by Majorelle’s framed floral arrangements. As for the tea itself, expect the lot—scones with dollops of Devonshire Cream, mixed berry, and clementine marmalades, and seasonal English tea sandwiches. For dessert, choose from Dior-inspired cookies shaped after the iconic Bar Jacket or nibble on a puffed pistachio chioux; all of which can be washed down by a cozy tea (perhaps The Jardin Bleu, which is the Majorelle tea sommelier’s top pick). And if your sitter isn’t available, bring the kids along—there’s a dedicated children’s menu. From $125 Lillie’s Victorian Establishment Named after the illustrious 19th-century figure with a knack for breaking social norms, Lillie Langtry (actress, socialite, bon vivant) serves as the muse for this nostalgic tea service, complete with petite finger sandwiches, scones, pastries, and mini sweets. Lillie’s Victorian Establishment has outposts in both Union Square and Times Square, and—as the name would suggest—is decorated in the spirit of the Victorian era, giving all the justification you need to dress up for the occasion. From $50 Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon You might miss the entrance to Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon if you’re not looking closely; it’s hidden away on the parlor level of an 1834-era Georgian brownstone marked only by an inconspicuous brass plaque. Up 10 steps and moving inside, floral wallpapers, mismatched furniture, and fringe lampshades create a nostalgic atmosphere that’s thoroughly fitting for afternoon tea. The five-course prix fixe service includes classic fare such as finger sandwiches, scones, and cakes, all with a different tea pairing for each course. But save some room—the fourth course is a slice of 21-layer crepe cake and numerous small desserts follow. From $78 Bar Blondeau Bar Blondeau is a restaurant and bar atop Williamsburg’s Wythe Hotel known for its coveted views of the Manhattan skyline. Head up here on a Sunday for their tea service, which includes tasty bites like anchovy toast with Calabrian chili and parsley, housemade vanilla cream puffs, mini honey butter scones, and Himalayan black tea from In Pursuit of Tea. (It also includes Champagne by the glass, should you desire.) And if you’re not quite ready to leave, stick around for live jazz, which begins at 5 p.m. once tea service wraps up. From $55
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