Profile

The culinary aspirations of Saks Fifth Avenue's airy café rest on daily imports of Poilâne bread from Paris. If the menu of tartines—French open face sandwiches—recalls the rustic French bakery's own sit-down annex, the restaurant's hyper-mod milieu of white, open space dotted by round, white, lacquer tables fashions a starkly divergent setting in which to munch them. The loaves' transatlantic journey to become long slices topped with very un-French mounds may seem extravagant, but the crusty results along with champagne cocktails successfully tempt and fortify an impromptu clientele. — Alexandra Vallis