At Le Chene in Manhattan, chef Alexia Duchene indulges diners with a haute spin on French classics while another kind of artistry hangs on the walls. Diners nibble sweet shrimp tartelettes or golden, pastry-covered pithiviers beneath Warhol's Flowers and sip rare Grand Cru across from a Basquiat triptych. And, for deep-pocketed guests, there's even the chance to take a masterpiece home.
The classic picture of the mature magnate bidding for a Rothko at a London auction room is giving way to that of young individuals in their early thirties who invest from their mobile phones, share online stories of their favorite art stands from the Frieze Seoul fair, and buy and sell digital art with the joy of someone who accepts that everything in this life is transitory, so that leaving a legacy is not a priority.