It feels oxymoronic to use the word “new” when describing the Hotel Chelsea. The storied building, after all, has been a New York City landmark since 1966 and on the National Register for Historic Places since 1977, thanks to its legacy as a creative hub for some of the city’s most brilliant writers, musicians, artists, and actors. In fact, when the hotel quietly reopened after a renovation in 2022, most of its original features stayed in place—from its mosaic marble tiles to its Depression-era bar El Quijote.
But now, Hotel Chelsea is indeed welcoming something brand new: their restaurant, Café Chelsea.
An all day-eatery helmed by Sunday in Brooklyn’s Charles Seich, Café Chelsea has taken over the former Capitol Fishing Tackle shop and transformed it into a Parisian bistro: Executive Chef Derek Boccagno’s menu includes Poulet Rôti, Tartare de Boeuf, Façon Niçoise, and Raviole du Dauphiné, whereas the wine menu is full of wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. There will be two distinct dining areas: one casual, called the Petit Café, and the formal Grand Café. Art by the current and former tenants of Hotel Chelsea hangs on the walls, while vintage chandeliers and Gallic décor accents further add to the ambiance. A social cornerstone, inevitably, will be the zinc-topped bar serving up everything from martinis to a perfect French 75.
The co-owner of Hotel Chelsea, Sean Macpherson, found inspiration in La Palette on Rue de Seine, a Beaux-Arts establishment in Paris’s 6th arrondissement. “Though I wasn’t trying to evoke La Palette’s design, I definitely was trying to conjure its feeling, which, to me, is subtle, timeless, and secretly a little glamorous,” Macpherson tells Vogue.
Although a touch of Francophilic flair isn’t anything new—the dynamic dining scene of the City of Lights has served as endless inspiration for hotels and restaurants around the world—for Hotel Chelsea, the style has an added historical resonance. “Hotel Chelsea was designed by the French architect Phillip Hubert in the 1880s and I’ve always considered it a grande dame, so French food felt natural,” Macpherson explains.
Café Chelsea opens on Friday, July 14—which, fittingly, also happens to be Bastille Day.
