Natsumi Tapas From the Folks Who Brought You Joe’s Shanghai and Haru
Not long after the original Haru opened in 1996 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, my husband and I dined there with an out-of-town friend—and before long, it became apparent that the staff was convinced that my husband was a celebrity. In spite of our…
Bella Luna Reopens (with a Prohibition Mural)
During the dog days of summer in 1988, my friend who lived on 87th Street called and invited me to lunch. “There’s a brand-new Italian restaurant that just opened on 88th and Columbus,” he said, excitedly. “A piece of Tuscany in New York.” Earlier that…
Velenosi Vini Reveal Le Marche’s Indigenous Viticulture
Amidst a midwinter storm in Manhattan, the city mounded in snow meringue, few sanctums are more welcoming than the palazzo-like Del Posto, the extraordinary Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in Chelsea — and particularly when tasting the wines of…
Tessa Recharges Manhattan’s Upper West Side
Years ago, on the Upper West Side, an unknown actor named Bruce Willis tended bar at Café Central, while a few blocks away Ruelles hosted the likes of Calvin Klein, Warren Beatty, and Robert De Niro. Barbra Streisand dined on not-yet-ubiquitous sushi at…
Some of the Best of the Best for 2016
During a year that commenced with an early morning Alpine snowshoe expedition to the peak of Muottas Muragl in Engadin St. Moritz, Switzerland and ended with a (pre-election) Jazz Era, Gatsby-themed weekend at Glenmere in the Lower Hudson Valley, we…
To Drink or Keep: Château de la Dauphine
At the court of Versailles, the wines of Fronsac were known as the king’s favorite. Located about 20 miles from Bordeaux in the east of the Bordeaux wine region, Fronsac is notable for its bucolic woodland, which so charmed the mother of Louis XVI that…
Lugana’s Revelatory White Wines
For oenophiles, the discovery of a new wine can be a revelation—and when that wine opens up an appreciation for an entire region, the rewards are manifold. Those who know Lugana in Northern Italy know that the region around Lake Garda is one of the most…
Learning ‘The Art of Entertaining’ with Relais & Chateaux
If we’re lucky as children, we’re taught which fork to use at the table, as well as proper table manners and eating utensil etiquette. And if we’re very lucky, we’re also taught how to be a gracious guest and an artful conversationalist. But how does one…