And the silverware. The lamp above you. The table you ate on. And the bouquet of blooms sitting on top.
La Mercerie isn’t just another cafe-cum-restaurant; it is tucked into furniture and design store Roman and Williams Guild and owned by the same husband-and-wife duo, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, which creates a neat crossover between their endeavors. Florist Emily Thompson, whose flowers decorate the eatery, has a small shop-in-shop near the main entrance; the rest of the non-edibles, down to the fixtures, can be purchased a stone’s throw away at the Guild.
And while this marks Standefer and Alesch’s debut as full-fledged restaurateurs, they are no strangers to the culinary industry. The interior designers are responsible for the decor at The Breslin, Lafayette, The Dutch and Starr Restaurants’ Upland and Le Coucou. In fact, for La Mercerie, they’ve tapped the Starr team to oversee operations. It’s an A team of familiar faces all around, including Chef Marie-Aude Rose, formerly of Paris’ acclaimed Spring restaurant. Her husband, Daniel Rose, happens to be the chef at Le Coucou.