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Alain Llorca


During peak season, mere mortals will struggle to book a table at La Colombe d’Or, the movie-star watering hole (with excellent food) in the medieval town of Saint-Paul de Vence, on the French Riviera. But there’s no need to suffer. Instead, a three-minute drive to nearby La Colle-sur-Loup will lead pleasure seekers to Alain Llorca, which has one Michelin star, a ridiculously pleasant terrace, 10 guest rooms, and even a swimming pool. Yes, the restaurant is a tasting-menu affair, and five or nine courses are required at dinner, but at lunch a three-course market option is just the ticket, especially when the entrée choices include ceviche with tiger’s milk (a Peruvian marinade that often involves citrus juice and garlic). And in case the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc is full, its hotel is also a charming, comfortable place to rest one’s head—for one-twelfth of the price (not like we’ve done the math). (Starting at $289, alainllorca.com) —Ashley Baker

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Biggie’s Bodega


Nestled under a candy-striped awning on Division Street is the latest arrival to New York’s Dimes Square neighborhood: Biggie’s Bodega, a pocket-size antique store specializing in vintage smoking accessories. Antique table lighters in the shapes of lamps, cars, typewriters (hand-restored by the shop’s owners), Art Deco marble ashtrays, and vintage rolling papers are just a few examples of the bodega’s carefully curated inventory. Nonsmokers can delight in the selection of vintage magazines, retro candies, and, for the daring, specialty drinks. (Buffalo-wing soda, anyone?) Lucky visitors may even get to meet the shop’s namesake, an affable pit bull named Biggie. (instagram.com) —Paulina Prosnitz

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Finch


You are in the minority if you haven’t heard the siren song of Hudson, New York. A two-hour Amtrak ride north from Manhattan, the quaint town is a haven for great food, concept hotels, and inspired shopping. You’ll find Finch on the main strip of Warren Street, in the former police precinct. This lifestyle emporium by work and life partners Andrew Arrick and Michael Hofemann is filled with midcentury furniture, decorative items, bath and beauty products, plus a well-curated assortment of clothing and accessories. Once you’ve stopped staring at the two handsome owners, be prepared to encounter sites that will make you want to drop your credit card and declare, “I’ll take it all.” And if you don’t have the $5,000 to spend on that fabulous, pedigreed, just-perfect sofa, you can always pick up a candle by D.S. & Durga for your hostess gift, or the perfect T-shirt. (finchhudson.com) —Anjali Lewis

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Prima Facie


In the one-woman show Prima Facie, Jodie Comer plays Tessa, a young British barrister who has carved out a successful practice defending men from sexual-assault charges. Then her life is upended when a colleague assaults her one night. Over the span of 100 breathtaking minutes, Comer commands the stage and delivers a locomotive of a performance packed with emotional highs and soul-crushing lows in which she recounts Tessa’s up-from-the-bootstraps life and the moments that led to that fateful night. From the opening scene, it is impossible not to be mesmerized by Comer’s stamina as a performer. In Killing Eve, the series where she played the assassin Villanelle, Comer showed she knew how to hide from an audience. Here, she’s beyond vulnerable, stripping away every last piece of armor to deliver an unforgettable performance that pulls the audience in and keeps them talking long after they’ve left the theater. (Starting at $45, primafacieplay.com) —Michael Hainey

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Per Amore


There are few men who encapsulate and define Italian style quite like designer Giorgio Armani. Now, in Per Amore, we have a newly reimagined autobiography (an updated version of his illustrated Rizzoli book from 2015 of the same name) that tells his story using words as well. In a remarkably intimate tone, Armani shares the events that have shaped his family, company, and aesthetic, all set against the backdrop of fashion. For Armani-lovers of all varieties, it’s an essential addition to the bookshelf. ($26, rizzoliusa.com) —Ashley Baker

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Third Girl from the Left


The benefit of hindsight has inspired scores of works about AIDS—autobiographies, social histories, novels, plays, and movies. Third Girl from the Left, a memoir by a former dancer, Christine Barker, stands out because it so honestly describes the crisis in real time. Barker was plucked from a chorus line to perform in the 1976 West End production of A Chorus Line by the show’s chief creator, Michael Bennett, and later joined the Broadway cast. She was in her early 20s when she first plunged into the heady liberation of the 1970s. Even in the dance world, the plague registered in slow motion: a friend couldn’t shake a cough, another came down with pneumonia. And then, like a tsunami, AIDS wiped out dozens of friends, fellow dancers, and finally her brother, Laughlin, who died in 1986, not long before his partner, the designer Perry Ellis, was also killed by the disease. Barker’s memoir is a beautifully written account of a tragedy too many in her generation also lived through. ($28, amazon.com) —Alessandra Stanley

Issue No. 203
June 3, 2023
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Issue No. 203
June 3, 2023