#36 w-report is ON THE TRAIL of intrepid traveler Whitney Robinson
One of our other favorite Ws gives us his unedited intel on his favorite spots in Paris and Sag Harbor, included a great, but haunted, hotel bar
WHO WHAT WHIT I met Whitney Robinson many moons ago through a mutual friend and from the start it was as if we had known (giggled with) each other over many lives. Hilarious, curious and the kind of person that says exactly what is going on in his polymathic mind, at the time he was the new editor-in-chief of Elle Decor US. I remember him saying something like “If print is dying let’s make this magazine a wild beautiful rocket and blow it up!”
Beyond the fact that Whitney is also an official “W” he is our kind of traveler: fun, funny, fearless and inquisitive and always looking for treasures in the most unlikely (and likely) places. You’ll find him in the Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, but you’ll also find him on the top of Mt Kilimanjaro or on a remote trail to a Buddhist temple in Bhutan.
I was thrilled to learn that he has just launched his version of a travel guide series which he dubbed Who What Whit (SIGN UP!) starting with Paris. So I called him up and asked him for a few more diamonds, including several from where he spends part of his summers with his super charming husband Marc Karimzadeh and Tartufa, their adorable Lagotto Romagnolo dog.
WHITNEY’S HOT TAKE ON THE HAMPTONS + SAG HARBOR
The Hamptons offers so many distinctive zones from the Upper Crust WASP enclave of Georgia Pond to Montauk which is still pretty wild and full of surfers. Sag Harbor is one of the oldest parts of the Hamptons, known as a whaling town, and what I like about it is that its Main Street hasn’t been taken over by luxury shops. It’s the last great town in the Hamptons in my opinion.
Start your morning at the Yoga Shanti studio which was founded by Rodney Yee. I should be going there every day but I haven’t managed this summer. The early classes at the crack of dawn are better, attracting more locals, and people with an actual spiritual practice. After 9am you will have to fight a competitive alpha who says you stepped on her mat. After you say your Namastes, head to our favorite health food store and cafe Provisions for the fresh watermelon juice and bran muffin to keep things regular. Alternatively Carissa's does really good breakfast sandwiches. Have lunch—order the burger—at the American Hotel. You’ll find me having an espresso martini there but I don’t put friends up there because we don’t want them to be haunted by ghosts. Instead I’d recommend The Roundtree Hotel in Amagansett. It’s a place I would even check in myself while living here even though our rental house costs $1000 an hour. Make sure to stroll down Main Street and stop by the local old fashioned variety store where I always pick up the newspaper and you can find anything from Jockey underwear to beach chairs. For an exceptional (and expensive) shopping experience you can’t miss Bloom on 25 Madison Street which has been around for decades. Mona, the owner, has one of the greatest eyes of any design aficionado I know. Do not look at the price tags. You will cry. Last year I bought about ten incredibly beautiful teal linen napkins and when I checked out she said ‘That will be $675.’ For dinner I love Tutto Il Giorno a restaurant from Gaby Karan the daughter of designer Donna Karan (DK's Urban Zen shop is adjacent to the restaurant and is great for a pre-dinner shop with a martini). Get the lobster pasta and thank me later!
PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA
I didn’t travel abroad to Europe until I was 14 and when I did it was for a study exchange program to France. We were dispersed to various families living outside of Aix en Provence and I stayed for two months over the summer. I only wore Abercrombie & Fitch and remember there were dried roses hanging from the ceiling in one room. I didn’t make it to Paris until a few years later after graduating from high school. I stayed at the Lutetia before it was renovated. Paris is one of those awe-dropping, breathtaking cities that combines the world of fashion and design. Plus I am a foodie so I drop dead at a baguette. How could you not? I love the idea that the French so respect a wheel of cheese and a ruffle in a dress and obsess over the play of light on the Eiffel Tower. At the same time it can also be a sad place for me. Triste is a better word. That’s because I am always eating too many croissants and the city is so beautiful that it actually makes me sometimes feel a little melancholy. Also the Parisians love their rules which is in direct conflict with my free-spirited, can do New Yorker attitude.
HOTEL OF THE MOMENT. It is not possible to choose one hotel in Paris. But I chose Hotel Balzac for my first guide because when I am out and about in Paris I need to come back to a great bar, a great spa, a room with a view and beautifully designed interiors. I found all that in the Balzac. (Rates start at $462) Designed by the chic duo behind Festen, it feels very of the moment. Another factor is that hotels in Paris have become SO expensive. Even if I love a place I can’t recommend a hotel with a $2500 rack rate.
COVETED SHOP Julian Bedel, who is behind the new fragrance mecca Fueguia 1833, is not the most famous nose but he is the real thing. There are more than 100 incredible scents—vintage and limited edition perfumes made from medicinal plants— to choose from, some of them genius collaborations like “New York” which Bedel created with Gabriela Hearst.
INSIDER CAFE The beauty of Paris is when you can spend five euros on a flan in a place like the Cordelia Coffee Flower on Rue du Bac in St. Germain and know you are indulging in the exact right thing in a very special place. You get a shine of Dior here without spending a fortune. (The owner Cordelia de Castellane—such a cool human— is the artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior). Over the Christmas season this place is especially beautiful because its filled with the most incredible Christmas ornaments.
HOW TO DO LA TOUR D’ARGENT There is nothing new about this institution but very few people tell you how to do it right. It’s expensive as hell and so difficult to get a table. The hack is to go for lunch, go alone, order the pressed duck and the soufflé, go for a long walk afterwards and skip breakfast and dinner. If you must eat something just have some baguette and butter.
All the W’s say:
Vous en prie!