At first sighting, Cherche Midi—aqua blue awnings, antiqued wood paneling reminiscent of Paris, and a menu bounded by a simple glass box—looks so much a part of the neighborhood that you would think it had been there for years. Which is not the case. Indeed, at the corner of East Houston and Bowery, the restaurant is an upstart on the Lower East Side, having opened its doors in June 2014. Speaking of doors, do not be put off by the plain-vanilla metal front door, so utterly plain my companion, mistaking it for a service entrance, suggested we walk around the corner to find the front door. Don't do that.

French Restaurants '15-16Barbara DonskyApril 19, 2015Balthazar, Cherche Midi, French restaurant, Kevin McNally, Lower East Side, Parisian Comments

Taittinger Gallery: Pop the Cork!

The opening of the Richard Taittinger Gallery on Tuesday, March 3rd was propitious, or so I thought, coming as it did the same week as the opening of the 17th Annual Armory Show. Hosted at Piers 92 and 94 on the ice-bound Hudson River, the Armory show attracted more than 200 top-flight galleries from around the world. With so many important works of art from the 20th and 21st centuries on display, thousands turned out despite the bitter cold, the snow and ice.

Art in New York, French Restaurants '15-16Barbara DonskyMarch 15, 2015Armory Art Show, Champagne, Dirty French, Katz's Delicatessen, Lower East Side, Richard Taittinger Gallery, Russ & Daughters, Yumi Kim Comments