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You feel it immediately. Long before an amuse-bouche has materialized on your table—before, in fact, you’ve even settled into your chair—you look around and detect a sort of ambient thrill. On the face of it, all that’s happened is you’ve walked into a restaurant, but that tingle in your nerve endings lets you know that something rare has transpired: You’ve crossed a threshold into a really great room.
Marc HomAudrey McGraw is playing concerts in the U.S. and abroad this summer, after touring the globe last year with Brandi Carlile. Dior dress. Bulgari High Jewelry Tubogas necklace and rings.
A restaurant can flourish, as most do, without the cosmic windfall of having a really great room, just as a really great room, like an ill-fitting tuxedo on a slovenly drunk, can’t rescue a restaurant that has collapsed into a period of mediocre cooking and hospitality. But when everything comes together—when you encounter a synchronicity of food and service and lighting and music and decor in a space that happens to be architecturally sublime? Well, then. Order a digestif and hold on to that night’s table for as long as you can, because you have clicked into the sweetest of sweet spots when it comes to dining out.
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“Dzanielle! Isn’t that the girl from Influenced and Odd Mom Out? Is she actually eating the bread? Should we?”
Marc HomFamily Dinner: Jill Kargman—writer, star, and executive producer of the new film Influenced—shares a meal beneath Joan Mitchell’s King of Spades with, from left: her husband Harry Kargman; his sister-in-law Alexandra Michler; and Alexandra’s husband Will Kopelman. On Harry Kargman: Van Cleef & Arpels Lion Ebouriffe clip-brooch, courtesy of Sotheby’s. On Michler: Lalaounis Aurelia collection ring. On Jill Kargman: Wilfredo Rosado Bakkheia ear clips, courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Marc HomThe New Guard: From left: Emma Lasry, Mary Julia Koch, Sophia Cohen, and Neil Hamamoto, members of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Vanguard Council, raise a glass to bright futures in the art world. On Lasry: Gabriela Hearst jacket and trousers. Wempe Helioro necklace. On Koch: Zimmermann dress. Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti Diamonds by the Yard Sprinkle Necklace and Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany Dot Losange bracelet. Tony Duquette ring. On Cohen: Fforme Koharu coat. Foundrae Orbit Extension Chain with Resilience Sparrow Medallion. Brent Neale Conch Shell ring. Cartier Baignoire watch. Buccellati Macri ring.
There are certain American rooms, from coast to coast, that have come to serve as totems of this peak experience. You might think of Canlis in Seattle, with its black cantilevered hull jutting out over Lake Union like the opening scene of a Hitchcock movie, or the cavernous faux-Parisian swirl of New York City’s Balthazar, which represents the apotheosis of the Keith McNally aesthetic. Maybe you look to the past, whether it’s the cocky American Century elegance that Philip Johnson and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe brought to the Four Seasons in Manhattan’s Seagram Building, or the bliss-to-be-alive vibes of Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills in the 1980s, or Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune in the East Village in the aughts. For chef and restaurateur Erick Williams, whose Virtue on Chicago’s South Side qualifies as a really great room, everything matters: lighting that makes people look good, a sound system that lets people hear each other, attention to temperature. Ultimately, the guests themselves bring the hum. “Design is not about how beautiful a room looks, it is a function of how people are made to feel,” Williams says. “Does it make them feel seen? Does it let them settle and stay longer than they planned? If it doesn’t do that, it’s just a container.”
It may seem premature to announce the arrival of a really great room in a place that only opened this spring, but when it comes to Marcel in the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, the casting alone suggests a show you don’t want to miss. The building itself, conceived by Marcel Breuer, made its debut in 1966 as a paragon of Brutalist architecture. It now serves as the headquarters of Sotheby’s, and Marcel—in the downstairs space that used to house Danny Meyer’s Untitled as well as Flora Bar—brings us a menu from chef Marie-Aude Rose of La Mercerie and a vibe from Robin and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams.
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“I read that guy’s book one afternoon by the pool at Il Pellicano, and I recognize the redhead from a story in the Wall Street Journal.”
Marc HomA Writer’s Corner: Lila Raicek, author of the recently released, deliciously debaucherous novel The Plunge, with Griffin Dunne, the actor, director, and writer whose must-read memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club, came out in 2024, and massage therapist Sophie Bolvary. Could this be the new Algonquin Round Table? On Raicek: Belperron Bouton ear clips. David Webb Totem pendant with leather cord and Osiris cuff. On Bolvary: Belperron Col de Cygne necklace from The Virgin Gold Collection.
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“The lady with the gold collars owns this place—I heard she chose every single thing in here.”
Marc HomLa Nouvelle Garde: What’s the collective noun for a group of arbiters of taste? Whatever it may be, this group—from left, stylist Kate Young, stylist and Substack star Becky Malinsky, writer and creator Cyrus Veyssi, Idiosyncratic Fashionistas’ Valerie Foley, Marcel owner and designer Robin Alesch, Idiosyncratic Fashionistas’ Jean Stone, and writer and filmmaker Emily Sundberg—would illustrate the dictionary entry. On Young: Chanel jacket and skirt. The Row t-shirt. Sidney Garber earrings and bracelets. Verdura Ray brooch and Candy ring. On Malinsky: Tory Burch shirt, belt, and skirt. Cartier Panthère de Cartier earrings. Bulgari High Jewelry ring. On Veyssi: Amiri blazer. Simone Rocha trousers. Buccellati cocktail earrings. Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Hardwear bracelet. Dior J’Adior pumps. On Foley: Khia Tullae hat. On Alesch: Bulgari Vintage Tubogas necklace. On Stone: Melitta Baumeister top. Esenshel Hat. On Sundberg: Giorgio Armani jacket and trousers.
Dinner à Deux: Fashion critic and reporter Rachel Tashjian and her husband Lloyd Wise, a director at Garth Greenan Gallery, have found that the best table in the house might not even be in the dining room but in the kitchen with chef Marie-Aude Rose. On Tashjian: Adam Lippes Seraphina dress. Chopard Haute Joaillerie earrings. David Webb Crown ring. On Wise: Louis Vuitton Men’s suit. Dolce & Gabbana Martini shirt. Lalaounis Seashell Collection brooch.
Marc HomMcGraw isn’t only a musician; she also acts. Her small screen debut was in the Taylor Sheridan series Landman in 2024. Prada dress and shoes. Bulgari High Jewelry Divas’ Dream earrings.
As Alesch points out, you can’t just proclaim that a restaurant is going to be a great room, because there are so many intangibles at play. But as with cooking, your odds are better if you use the best ingredients. At Marcel, the Roman and Williams team decided to counteract the austerity of the space with the language of comfort: candles and white tablecloths, chicken paprikash and cassoulet, bronze and mohair, “rich walnut and warm banquettes,” as Alesch puts it. Martinis are ubiquitous these days, but how many restaurants serve them in bespoke glassware? Restaurant playlists have become predictable, but Marcel will put the music in the hands of Randall Poster, Wes Anderson’s longtime sonic comrade. What you hear should, like the room itself, both beguile and surprise you. “How do you make something glamorous and comfortable?” Alesch asks. “That’s what I’m always trying to figure out. These layers of atmosphere are what really matter when it comes to creating the energy of a great room.” In conversation she sings hosannas for predecessors such as Mr. Chow and Maxwell’s Plum; she envisions Marcel as both a neighborhood hangout (with an all-day bakery and, for the first time in the building, a street entrance just for the restaurant so you don’t have to snake through an overlit lobby) and as a sort of show, with cross sections of New York society promenading in plumage—a place that might have constituted a whole chapter in a Tom Wolfe novel.
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“They let people sit on the bar here? Of course, you can see the Joan Mitchell better that way.”
Marc HomFriends at the Bar: A quick drink before a board meeting? A late dinner after a set at Café Carlyle? A few bottles of wine and a few hours of gossip? With this group—clockwise from left, American Friends of the Louvre executive director Thomas Moore, musician Hamilton Leithauser, artist Derek Buckner, Audrey McGraw, actor Patrick Vaill, and writer Amy Fine Collins—you never can tell. On Moore: Issey Miyake jacket and trousers. Cartier Grain se Cafe brooch and Fauna and Flora High Jewelry ring. On Buckner: Brunello Cucinelli blazer. Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti Amapola brooch. On McGraw: Fendi dress and Arco sandals. Tony Duquette earrings. Van Cleef & Arpels Bouton d’Or ring. Cartier Clash de Cartier rings. On Vaill: Tod’s jacket. Silvia Furmanovich necklace. On Fine Collins: Thom Browne jacket, top, skirt, tie, and shoes. Elie Top earrings. Tony Duquette brooch. Cartier Panthère de Cartier watch. Tiffany & Co. bracelet. David Webb ring.
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“How far is it to the theater district? Maybe if we walk fast enough, this place could become our new Sardi’s.”
Marc HomJust in Time for Curtain: If anyone will appreciate Marcel’s theatricality, it’s this crew. From left: Zhailon Levingston, co-director of Cats: The Jellicle Ball; Sade Lythcott, CEO of the National Black Theatre; Camille A. Brown, director of the upcoming Dreamgirls revival; Sam Pinkleton, director of The Rocky Horror Show; Whitney White, director of the upcoming School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play; Bill Rauch, co-director of Cats: The Jellicle Ball; and Marcel maître d’ Cheutine Fong. On Levingston: Todd Snyder Parranda suit jacket. Cartier Panthère de Cartier ring. On Lythcott: Rosie Assoulin jumpsuit. David Yurman DY Lumina wrap necklace and Spikey Flora drop earrings. Van Cleef & Arpels Bouton d’Or ring. On Brown: Chopard Haute Joaillerie earrings. On Pinkleton: Dior vest, shirt, and neckband. On White: Ralph Lauren Collection pants. Mimi So earrings and bracelets. On Fong: Cartier Grain de Café necklace and ring and Panthère de Cartier ring.
And Marcel, thanks to Sotheby’s, will have one inexhaustible secret sauce in the mix: art. Beyond Joan Mitchell’s painting King of Spades on the wall, vintage jewelry in vitrines, and Isamu Noguchi sculptures on the patio, the space will allow Sotheby’s to play art DJ, putting different works (some on loan, some from upcoming auctions) into rotation as the months progress. “You’re sitting there looking at the work as you enjoy your lunch or dinner,” says Charles Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s. Plenty of restaurants have art on display, sure, but as Stewart says, “There are not many that can change it regularly.”
As we were saying, order a digestif and settle in. You won’t merely want to eat at Marcel. You’ll want to linger.
Marc Hom Town & Country Magazine
Marc Hom Town & Country Magazine
Photographs by Marc Hom
Styled by Anya Ziourova
Audrey McGraw: Hair by Serge Normant at Statement Artists. Makeup by Jeanine Lobell for Neen at Cloutier Remix. Groups: Grooming by Claudia Lake and Bibb Joel Dickey at Contact NYC; Griselle Rosario at See Management. Production by Freebird Productions.
This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
Jeff Gordinier is Esquire’s Food & Drinks Editor.