The Café at Country
What becomes a boutique hotel most? A David Rockwell design, yes. A European-style spa, surely. But the biggest draw, for scene-hungry tourists and locals alike, is the stylish chef-driven restaurant. The recently renovated Carlton, which has operated as a hotel for more than a century, gets an "It" kitchen of its own in Country, chef-owner Geoffrey Zakarian's boutique bookend to Town at the Chambers hotel. Rockwell burnished the grand Beaux Arts premises, which include a bar and lounge, a formal dining room opening later this fall, and a 120-seat café, slated to open this week. Executive chef Doug Psaltis, the increasingly notorious memoirist behind the tell-all The Seasoning of a Chef and veteran of Mix and the French Laundry, cooks what he calls modern European-American fare, like country eggs in a jar, grilled-lamb gyro with hummus and yogurt, and salt-and-pepper shrimp.