With its floating staircase and stately dome, the Printemps flagship is as much a historic Parisian monument as it is a beloved department store. The luxe retailer’s arrival in New York’s Financial District is also momentous. Situated within the Art Deco skyscraper One Wall Street, the 55,000-square-foot, bilevel space was imagined by Paris architect and designer Laura Gonzalez as an inviting apartment, with interconnected rooms fusing fashion, beauty, and food and drink.
The Red Room Bar layers marble with a striking chandelier
The latter realm is the domain of culinary director Gregory Gourdet, the James Beard Award-winning chef, author, and TV personality. To prepare for the launch, Gourdet took multiple research trips to France, where he “dined at older, smaller restaurants to get the feel for quintessential Paris,” he recalls. He people-watched at cafés, savored Michelin-starred tasting menus, and visited dining rooms on idyllic farms just outside the city.
At Printemps New York, Gourdet oversees five distinctive venues, including the casual all-day Café Jalu; Salon Vert, the second-floor raw bar done up in handpainted tiles and soft spring-like hues of green and pink; the Champagne Bar dominated by a whimsical bar counter from Brooklyn ceramic artist William Coggin that recalls sea coral; and the Red Room Bar, a glamorous chandelier-laden hideaway that opens onto the landmarked Red Room. Illuminating original 1920s Hildreth Meière red ombré and gold mosaic, Gonzalez transformed it into a fantastical shoe forest awash in ecological resin.
“Each outlet showcases flavors and cooking techniques of French Africa, French Asia, and the French Caribbean,” Gourdet says. Maison Passerelle celebrates this ethos most prominently. Inside the fine dining restaurant, a stained-glass panel from Pierre Marie Studio melds with a fresco by Atelier Roma based on photographs of former French colonies selected by Gourdet that converge into one powerful image “meant to evoke watching the sunset on the shores of the countries that inspire [the restaurant],” he says.
For Gourdet, design should accentuate the room’s best features to forge an environment “comfortable enough to spend hours in,” he says. “Laura’s take on blending New York Art Deco with Parisian Art Nouveau works just as well for the concept driving Maison Passerelle as the restaurant represents a bridge between the old and the new.”
Handpainted floral tiles back the Salon Vert raw bar
The Red Room’s original 1920s red ombré and gold mosaic adds to the fantastical vibe
A stained-glass panel from Pierre Marie Studio graces a wall inside Maison Passerelle at Printemps New York
This article originally appeared in HD’s April 2025 issue.
