“About four or five years ago, I noticed that everyone was wearing black, and I wanted to do something different.”

Oui, Madame!

For the past 40 years, Le Bernardin’s Maguy Le Coze has been the most stylish presence on the food scene. As she celebrates her 80th birthday, she reveals the key components of her signature look

By Maguy Le Coze

If you were to ask the most stylish women in New York, “Who is the most stylish woman in New York?,” many would answer without hesitation: Maguy Le Coze. For the past 40 years, the restaurateur has been front and center at Le Bernardin, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant she co-owns with her partner, the chef Eric Ripert. Le Coze, who grew up in a small fishing village in Brittany, moved to Paris in 1972 with her brother, the chef Gilbert Le Coze. There, they opened Le Bernardin, which was such a smash that, in 1986, they moved to New York and made 155 West 51st Street the epicenter of refined seafood. Having just celebrated her 80th birthday, Le Coze is as stylish, and singular, as ever. —Ashley Baker

I live across the street from Le Bernardin so I am there quite often—I am always very careful about the way I am dressed because I set the standard. It’s been a Michelin three-star for the longest time—when we opened, women came in cocktail dresses. Now, men don’t even wear ties! I get nostalgic when I see this, but there is nothing we can do. But some of the younger clients come in very dressed up—so that, I like!