Along with designer dresses, leather handbags and custom couches, some of the most renowned luxury brands now offer New Yorkers another luxury experience: dining.

From Polo Bar to La Mercerie, the designer-owned restaurant fad is a trend that continues to grow. In 1998, Giorgio Armani became one of the first luxury fashion designers to enter the restaurant world with Emporio Armani Café and Armani/Ristorante in Paris, and has since expanded to two dozen establishments throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. Last year alone, three new designer-owned concepts launched throughout Manhattan, including Armani and Louis Vuitton’s first-ever New York restaurants and a new collaboration between Bergdorf Goodman and Ginori 1735.

“Dining is a primal human experience—whether gathering together to celebrate, or taking a pause to relax and nourish after a long day. In many ways, a restaurant is the apotheosis of design, a full sensory experience that unites objects, interiors and people. At a moment when we find that people prize experiences as the ultimate luxury, more brands and creators seem to be eager to expand from the realm of ‘things’ to play a role in shaping their clients' memories,” Robin Standefer, founder of Roman and Williams Guild and La Mercerie, told Observer.

Selecting a destination based on shopping is one thing—are you looking for light fixtures or a spring coat? But deciding where to create a memory is another thing entirely, and when it comes to restaurants owned by designers or housed in luxury stores, how is one to choose? We scoured the classics and new contenders to curate a list of the restaurants that push the limits of design and go deeper with culinary art.

Partnering with the original L’Avenue in Paris, Saks Fifth Avenue brought the first and only L’Avenue expansion to the ninth floor of its Midtown flagship store in 2019. Guests enter the Philippe Starck-designed restaurant........

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