Touch of Genius at Chanel
Read More
It was a dazzling week in which Desperately Seeking Paris found bits of beauty everywhere —be it on the town, in the ‘hood or at home.
Read More
On Friday, October 26, 2018 The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering hosted the Opening Night of TEFAF NEW YORK at the Park Avenue Armory. Proceeds from the evening benefited MSK’s patient care, research and education programs. And what a dazzling night it was!
Read More
Ever since the story broke that the 123-year-old Henri Bendel flagship would be closing in January 2019, nostalgia buffs, visitors to the city and fans alike have been streaming through the doors at 712 Fifth Avenue, hoping to walk away with a last-minute purchase from what had been an iconic store. The cry of the crowd has been: Sell me something to remember you by! Unfortunately, the once swanky icon with one-of-a-kind designs is long gone, and nowadays you’d have to content yourself with commercial pieces. It’s the end of an era.
Read More
It was a week to celebrate! For starters it was the 2nd Anniversary of the publication of Veronica’s Grave. These past three years, including that leading up to publication, have been an amazing learning experience with a steep learning curve. Every bit as difficult as, say, earning a doctoral degree. So, you want to write a book? As the late Joan Rivers would say: Can we talk?
Read More
What better time to walk the streets of any great city than when it’s snowing or raining? It's that precipitation—be it rain, sleet, hail, snow or fog—has a way of blurring the sharp edges of a metropolis, slowing the pace of its inhabitants walking with downcast eyes, and lowering the decibel count. When the everyday hustle-bustle fades, the city takes a deep breath.
Read More
If you’re ‘desperately seeking Paris’ in New York, how best to welcome in the New Year? À la française, of course, with a soupçon of French style and elegance. So off we went, my companion and I with our dear friends in tow, to Michael White's French brasserie on the Upper East Side, the wonderful Vaucluse on Park Avenue.
Read More
**Apologies if you have received this email twice - we had a small glitch with our first attempt!**
Goodbye, Summer! It was a shock to my inner-gardener when I stepped out onto to the terrace this morning to find the straw-hat season packing up, moving on. Without so much as a 'by your leave'. How did this happen?
It seems that only yesterday we were celebrating the Fourth of July, anticipating a bounty of Long Island corn, the sweetest corn in all the world. Looking forward to plucking a few juicy New Jersey beefsteak tomatoes off the vine. Cracking open a batch of Maryland crabs. Turning a humble breakfast into a feast with a Connecticut cantaloupe. And tossing a couple of Maine lobsters on the grill for an easy dinner.
Read More
I did not want to pass up this opportunity to, once again, wish you good luck and fortune in the new year. But since the Chinese New Year is something my dear friend Diana Paul knows more about than I do, I am forwarding her insights on what we can expect in the Year of the Rooster.
Read More
If you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you may recall some of the marvelous French restaurants that have come our way this year. And it wasn't all that hard to find them, as French cooking is undergoing something of a renaissance in New York. And while the competition was strong, the standout was Le Coucou, where our dining experiences have been memorable in every way.
Read More
If you have but one day to spend in New York, do what Pope Francis did and visit the 9/11 Memorial Plaza and Museum. Situated in what may well be the hippest, most dynamic, part of town, the neighborhood surrounding the memorial is now home to 64,000 residents, including many families. Before the year 2000, a mere 22,900 residents called this Wall Street—Battery Park area home.
Read More
Whenever I would start talking French restaurants, someone would invariably ask: Have you been to Buvette? Buvette had the buzz, there was no doubt about it, the consensus being that the food was excellent, the ambiance divine. Everyone said: It’s like being in Paris!
Read More
The outfits from the 2015 Resort Wear Collection in the windows at Haute Hippie on Madison Avenue make me do a double-take. Straightaway, the word ‘Haute’ triggers thoughts of haute couture and of Coco Chanel--especially since I'm reading Rhonda Garelick’s incredibly well-researched and engaging biography: Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History.
Read More
The first time I laid eyes on Madame Cézanne --specifically, Madame Cézannein a Green Hat--I hardly knew what to make of her. Seated in an elegant chair, with a stylish green hat atop her head, she sat with lightly folded hands and tightly pursed lips. The more I studied her, the more I felt I was keeping her from far more urgent matters. Hurriedly, I moved on. When I heard the Metropolitan Museum of Art was mounting an exhibit devoted solely to her, it seemed a bit odd.
Read More
Having lived most of my life in the rustic village of Oyster Bay Cove, its deep woods and winding lanes brightened only by patches of moonlight at night, I love being out and about in Manhattan after nightfall. Particularly during the darkest months of the year.
Read More