Margaux

Prolific hotelier Sean MacPherson (the Bowery, the Jane, the Maritime) expands his New York holdings with this French-Mediterranean café inside the restored Marlton Hotel, onetime haunt of Jack Kerouac. Located behind the lobby, this skylighted 98-seat café honors the space's storied past with old-world decor (herringbone floors, antique glass mirrors) and seasonal cocktails named for Beat icons, like the Kerouac-inspired Dharma Bum (tea-infused pisco, lemon, orgeat). The daily-changing food menu—a collaboration between chefs Michael Reardon (Napa's Tra Vigne) and Jeremy Blutstein (Montauk's Crow's Nest)—is also rooted in seasonality, inspired by the coastal cuisines of France, California and the Mediterranean. Look for dishes like the Farmer's Board (red-quinoa tabouli, avocado hummus), day-boat cod with sea bean, and rotisserie chicken with urfa biber (Turkish chili pepper) and green harissa. Pastas, like squid-ink bucatini and buckwheat rigatoni, are made in-house, and wines are of the organic, biodynamic variety.