Mark these performances and openings in your diaries, book the hotels, book these restaurants. It’s time for cultural and culinary edification.
Boston
The ticket: The Boston Symphony Orchestra. A three-week festival titled “Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope” features music from composers (including Julia Wolfe) whose works seek to provoke dialogue about social change (March 3-18, 2023). The stay: Langham. This glamorous hotel occupying a historic former bank in the financial district has just undergone a two-year renovation. Its neo-Renaissance bones are preserved, its interiors vividly reimagined and filled with artwork from America’s oldest nonprofit artists’ society. Table: little whale. Chef Michael Serpa’s chefy take on New England seafood dishes opens this fall in the Back Bay with a menu to satisfy cold-weather cravings (think clam pizza and chowdah).
New York City
Grand Central Station in New York.
The Ticket: Edward Hopper. “Edward Hopper’s New York” at the Whitney is a one-of-a-kind exhibition about the famous realist painter and his relationship to the city he called home for six decades (until March 5).
“Morning Sun” by Edward Hopper, 1952
The stay: Aman. The brand’s new sanctuary brings the tranquility of Bali to the heart of Manhattan. Overlooking Central Park from the famous Crown Building, this 83-suite hotel is where you want to hibernate on a wintry day. The flagship spa spans three floors of treatment rooms, banya and steam rooms, cold plunges, and a 65-foot pool flanked by daybeds and fire pits. The Table: House of the Red Pearl. That and more: Jean-Georges Vongeritchen’s Michelin-decorated 53,000-square-foot market in the historic tin building by the seaport offers a choice of six restaurants (including elevated Chinese from Red Pearl and sushi at Shikku from 19 places), six casual places and four bars.
London
London from Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, looking towards Big Ben.
The Ticket: Donatello. The Renaissance master will have his first major UK exhibition this winter at the V&A; South Kensington (opening February 11, 2023).
Madonna and Child by Donatello with Four Angels, late 15th century.
The stay: Raffles. After a meticulous refurbishment, Churchill’s Old War Office is reborn at the end of the year as a 120-bedroom Raffles. It retains all of its historic grandeur (mosaic floors, chandeliers, marble staircase) and now boasts a serious spa and 11 dining venues, including a rooftop restaurant overlooking Buckingham Palace. The tablest. John Marylebone. It’s been seven years since nose-to-tail pioneer Fergus Henderson launched a new restaurant, so it’s no wonder this all-day space (donuts with champagne for breakfast) is trending.
Rome
Rome, with the Tiber and St. Peter beyond.
The Ticket: Horti Lamiani. Museo Ninfeo, a newcomer by reservation only, features the ruins of a private Roman residence that served as the residence of emperors such as Claudius and Severus Alexander.
This theater mask salvaged from the Horti Lamiani, the private residence and pleasure garden of several Roman emperors, is now in the new Museo Ninfeo.
The Stay: Six Senses. This wellness-focused hotel group opens this fall in the UNESCO-listed Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, with interiors by renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, a groundbreaking spa, a rooftop terrace with views to 360 degrees of the Eternal City and, if that wasn’t enough, an organic vegetable garden to inspire the culinary team. Table: Enoteca L’Antidote. Book well in advance for this natural wine, bottle-only, small-plate-only spot in Trastevere: it has just three tables and five bar seats.
Paris
Ticket: Center Pompidou. Home to Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art, this bold museum designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers will close for a three-year refurbishment in 2024, so make your visits now.
Robert Delauney
The Stay: TheBristol. We have always loved this Grande Dame for her fashionable address and her old-world elegance. After a six-year, multimillion-dollar renovation, it appears to be reborn. The Suite Paris is the epitome of refinement, with Louis XV and XVI furniture, embroidered silk hangings, and the same wooden parquet floor as at Versailles. The Table: Plots. This lively bistro in the 3rd arr. offers a concise menu of seasonal dishes, such as cabbage stuffed with foie gras. Wine nerds meet at the bar to taste bottles from small esoteric producers.
Mexico City
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City.
The Note: Gertrud Goldschmidt. Museo Jumex always impresses with its works by greats like Koons, Hirst and =. “Gego: Measuring Infinity” spotlights one of Latin America’s most important post-war artists (until February 5).
Mexico City’s Museo Jumex highlights the work of Gertrud Goldschmidt (aka Gego). Here are his “12 Circulos Concentricos”.
The stay: Ritz-Carlton and more. The 2021 opening of the 58-story Ritz-Carlton has reshaped the skyline, and its services and proximity to the historic center make it particularly attractive. Las Alcobas, in the Polanco area (Beverly Hills of Mexico City), has long been our boutique pick (its 35 suites have been refreshed); new seven-suite Casa Polanco is in a 1930s mansion. The Table: Pujol. Enrique Olvera’s avant-garde cuisine inspires pilgrimages to this world-class restaurant. For a more casual but no less tasty meal, head to The husband, a new spot rooted in the flavors of Baja. (Don’t miss the tlacoyo, a dish of pre-Hispanic origin).
Culturati doesn’t need to be cajoled to visit Vienna. Still, a Basquiat exhibition is at the Albertina until January 8, and the intriguing title “Idols & Rivals” is running at the Kunsthistorisches Museum until January 28. And Vienna has a new Rosewood, fabulously located in the heart of the pedestrian area.
This story appears in the October 2022 issue of City & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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