Sunday in New York City and another stellar brunch experience.
New kid on the block, la Mercerie Cafe at the Guild, recently debuted backed by a stellar team.
Daniel Rose, whose present claim to fame is the wildly popular Le Coucou and Stephen Starr (Upland, Clocktower) who always seems to bat a 1.000, are the team behind la Mercerie.
Celebrated french chef Marie-Aude Rose, who cooked at Paris restaurants Pierre Gagnaire and Spring where she met her husband, the aforementioned acclaimed chef, Daniel Rose, has created a heavenly Parisian menu.
The surrounding aesthetics are vastly appealing and now the cuisine can be enjoyed all day long as la Mercerie is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
The rich blue velvet banquets embrace you and the attention to design detail abounds.
The entire adventure is dazzling as the restaurant is intermixed with the Roman and Williams Guild, a high end, sophisticated furniture and design store.
The designers are also the owners of the Guild.
Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the husband-and-wife team behind the interior design firm Roman and Williams, have orchestrated the look at la Mercerie, adding to their impressive portfolio of restaurant decors, including Upland, Lafayette and Le Coucou.
The newly opened downstairs showcases a library and enticing private dining room.
Manager Casey Legler set the mood by warmly welcoming us in a striking three piece suit.
I ordered a Pastis because the moment just seemed so french ($14) and bartender, Demetri, personally presented the aperitif.
The table settings made me want to run to Connecticut and take some of my housewares off the estate sale selling block, but my husband snapped me back to reality.
The flowers on the table are for sale at Emily Thompson’s florist stand by the front entrance.
With great artistic flair, Thompson creates the restaurant arrangements for la Mercerie along with the posh Grill and Le Coucou.
We started with Taramasalata. I loved the fish roe and delicate blinis ($12).
The Omelette was traditionally French in preparation and the creamy cheese filling superb. The crispy, chilled, lightly dressed romaine and divine croutons complimented the egg dish ($14).
The beautifully presented Salad Nicoise was delicious, the tuna rare and tasty, the string beans flavorful ($23).
The most popular dish appeared to be the crepes which are prepared with an array of different fillings.
We ordered dessert surrounded by the model laden crowd which stalked the aisles as if they were on the runway.
The apple Tarte Normande was flaky and fabulous, filled with an amazing cream ($13).
We ordered coffee which was bold and flavorful, although we were shocked that they charged for a refill…how un-American ($3.50).
Although the beautiful people had sucked up a lot of the oxygen, we explored the Guild, admiring the plethora of American made products along with unique items sourced from Burma, Japan, Sweden, Denmark and Australia.
It seems that immersive shopping like the experience at la Mercerie is the future of brick-and-mortar retail, offering a tactile alternative to online shopping.
For an interesting, well rounded afternoon get yourself down to la Mercerie Cafe at the corner of Canal and Howard and spend several lovely, lanquid hours eating and shopping…what more could you ask for… happily satiating all the senses.
la Mercerie Cafe at the Guild 53 Howard Street New York City. Open daily 9am-10pm. Reservations on Resy.com.
