Marcel, a new restaurant from Sotheby’s in partnership with Roman and Williams, opens in the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, now the headquarters of Sotheby’s in New York. The dining room features a rotating selection of Sotheby’s masterworks on the walls and design and luxury objects in vitrines, some of which come from upcoming auctions, private sales, or are on special loan.
Named for the building’s architect, Marcel Breuer, the interior pairs custom Roman and Williams Guild lighting fixtures in cast bronze and cast glass with vintage lighting designed by Breuer. The bar serves drinks in handcrafted Japanese glassware, and mohair banquettes nod to the Upper East Side circa 1966, the year Breuer’s Whitney building opened at 75th Street.
On the lower level of the building, guests enter walnut-paneled rooms with a view of the dining room and sculpture garden and an open kitchen producing updated takes on French classics. Diners are surrounded by a rotating selection of works from artists including Joan Mitchell, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, alongside vitrines showcasing jewelry by David Webb, Boucheron, and René Boivin, as well as natural history curiosities from asteroid fragments to a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth.
The wine program, curated in partnership with Sotheby’s Wine, offers mature vintages and new releases from both iconic estates and rising-star producers. The building’s original sculpture garden has been reimagined to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner among trees, sculptures, and an outdoor bar.
Chef-partner Marie-Aude Rose, who also oversees the menu at Roman and Williams’ first restaurant, La Mercerie, describes her approach as “a marriage of tradition and temptation.” The menu is continental with a French emphasis, from confit de canard and gratin de cabillaud to côte de boeuf, lobster with roasted pineapple and turmeric-ginger cream, grilled salmon, and a sourdough tartine with French ham and comté. Marcel also includes the all-day bakery and café La Mercerie Patisserie, overseen by pastry chef Rae Gaylord, offering pastry and viennoiserie.
Sotheby’s global headquarters at 945 Madison Avenue occupies the museum building designed by Marcel Breuer. Herzog & de Meuron, in partnership with New York-based PBDW Architects, preserved the building while adding gallery space, reimagined salesrooms, and exhibition areas across the house’s collecting categories.
(Press Release)
