With the opening of Majorelle, a restaurant from famed chef Charles Masson, earlier this month, the Upper East Side’s 74-room Lowell Hotel has officially wrapped a three-year, US$25 million renovation.
Architect Mark Pinney and designer Michael S. Smith were the design team behind Majorelle, (named after the French painter Jacques Majorelle) which replaces the Lowell’s former upscale steakhouse, The Post House.
Masson, a French master who helms the Majorelle, previously ran the now-shuttered Lespinasse before working for David Bouley and then becoming executive chef at La Mangeoire.
Pinney and Smith additionally collaborated on Lowell’s other revamps: the hotel’s bar – Jacques, the club room, and the lobby. Architectural elements in all include dramatic vaulted ceilings and marble columns complemented by etched glass work and alabaster chandeliers. The floor was created from individually selected blue and white marble blocks from the mountain-side quarry in Botticino, Italy. Jacques’ Art Deco feel, a nod to the hotel’s 1920s beginning, has metal-framed doors lined with panes of mirror and glass, embossed leather-paneled walls, and French oak woodwork.
Under the eye of Masson and consulting chef Christian Delouvrier, the chef, Mario Fortuna, has planned a very French menu with Mediterranean flare (such as thyme roasted chicken and baby vegetable tagine). The restaurant will be one of a select few kitchens in New York with its own braisiere dedicated solely to preparing broths, sauces, and soups, and has an oven reserved only for soufflés. Majorelle’s pastry chef, David Carmichael, mills his own flour in-house.
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