Frenchette Bakery at the Whitney

[From the 1/22/24 newsletter]

I’m not sure when I became a lady who lunches, but the previous day I went to another elaborate lunch with Jenny Rosenstrach of the essential newsletter Dinner: A Love Story. Our destination? The new Frenchette Bakery at The Whitney Museum.

I love this space so much; I remember when The Whitney first opened downtown and there was a restaurant in this same spot called Untitled. The walls are all glass and the room is full of natural light. Jenny and I shared two salads to start: one a little gem, one a raddichio, both thoughtfully dressed.

For our entree, we shared a mushroom pizza that had an unassailable crust and taleggio cheese, which made it so much more interesting than a typical pizza.

That’s a work of art in and of itself.

Jenny wasn’t into ordering dessert, but since this was a bakery, I felt like it was incumbent on me to order something sweet: so I went for the twice-baked pistachio croissant and it surpassed my expectations.

Craig came to meet up with us (he ate the second half of the croissant) and we all went to see the absolutely stunning Henry Taylor exhibit. This painting is a tribute to his mother’s cornbread (her name was Cora):

This show was called the best of 2023 by Jerry Saltz in NY Magazine and you really have to go in person to understand why. Seeing these paintings online doesn’t do them justice; in person, you take in the scale, the texture, and the emotion that went into making them. I’m so glad we went.

Frenchette Bakery / 99 Gansevoort St First Floor, New York, NY 10014 / (646) 666-5503