The Rise of Luxury Fashion Restaurants

"On the ground floor of Printemps New York, beneath towering light fixtures shaped like Seussian lily pads, shoppers can try on glossy Roger Vivier Mary Janes while sipping Champagne that flows from a roving cart. The French luxury department store, which is spread across two levels inside a landmark Art Deco building in lower Manhattan, is part of a new generation of food-meets-fashion collaborations transforming luxury retail into full-fledged hospitality experiences. And it's perhaps the most ambitious of these ventures yet."

"Up until now, typical American department stores followed a different playbook: Open a standard cafe9 serving nie7oise salads and other lunchtime staples to peckish shoppers in search of convenience. For its first US flagship, the 160-year-old French retailer tapped Gregory Gourdet to oversee all five culinary programs. The Portland, Oregon-based James Beard Award winner, known for his diasporic cooking and impeccable, fashion-forward sensibility, seemed like a perfect fit."

Luxury fashion houses are increasingly incorporating food-focused experiences into retail spaces to reshape definitions of luxury. Printemps New York integrates multiple culinary venues, Champagne carts, and roving service to create hospitality-style shopping. The retailer engaged chef Gregory Gourdet to oversee five culinary programs that span casual pastry counters, a fine-dining restaurant offering Haitian-influenced dishes, a raw-bar six-course midday service, and a Champagne bar adjacent to beauty. Typical American department store cafes offered convenience-focused menus, whereas new ventures prioritize immersive dining, brand storytelling, and curated diningware. The strategy leverages culinary programming to attract customers, extend dwell time, and position stores as destination experiences.

Read at Bon Appetit