Louis Vuitton’s luxury pit stop houses store, library and chocolate bar in New York City

For the New York City store, Le Cafe will include a bar and library space, seat up to 70 people and offer dishes such as monogrammed savoury waffles with caviar (US$48 or S$64), a cheeseburger (US$32) and desserts like a Bartlett pear tart (US$22).

“It’s the type of food that perfectly fits with shopping,” chef Donckele said in an e-mail. “You can stop and eat for five minutes just as easily as you can spend two hours at a table.”

Louis Vuitton hired two chefs based in New York, the Michelin-starred Christophe Bellanca and Mary George of the restaurant Daniel. They began conceiving an American-specific menu a few months ago, while still working closely with chefs Donckele and Frederic.

It is a model of crafting region-specific dining experiences that the house has adopted with other LVMH restaurants around the world, including Louis Vuitton’s Le Cafe in Bangkok and Le Hall in Chengdu, China. Le Hall was awarded a Michelin star in September.

The library – curated by Mr Ian Luna, an editor and writer at the publishing house Rizzoli – features more than 650 books devoted to food, art, architecture, travel and other topics (curiously, literature appears to be absent from the exhaustive selection), alongside the label’s titles from its expanding publications department.

The same floor also has America’s first Louis Vuitton chocolate bar. Made by chef Frederic, the space features an assortment of sweets – all from Paris – that include bars with the house’s famous checkerboard Damier print (starting at US$32) and the brand’s mascot, Vivienne Doudou, standing on a Louis Vuitton trunk (US$375).

“The parallel between leather and craftsmanship in chocolate making is incredible,” chef Frederic said in an e-mail. “Chocolate is like leather. The gestures are the same, with equal precision.”

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