Café Luxembourg
By Robert Beck
Café Luxembourg is not a fedora kind of establishment per se, but a good hat would know immediately that it’s in the right place; there is a hat shelf in the bar. Not to suggest the 70th St. icon is Bogarty in any way, but I think if Humphrey had been around, he would have gone there when he just wanted to be himself. The Luxe has acquired a stellar reputation over four decades, and I’m pretty sure ghosts from places long past have taken up residence as well, because where else are they going to go? There is a mid-century enthusiasm, bringing to my mind Salinger, Dideon, Baldwin, Parker, and Talese. Since 1983, nobody hasn’t been there; at least nobody who’s anybody. There is no pretension—it’s a place to meet and dine that other gathering spots on the UWS would love to be.
There is a reason Café Luxembourg is on every list of favorites. It feels right: classy enough and just a bit like an adventure. It’s not stuffy or overly styled, and there is a touch of old school. The restaurant is open all day, and its menu ensures I will find more than one thing that intrigues me no matter how often I go.
The management and staff were ready when I showed up to paint, cheerful and eager to help. It makes a difference. I placed my easel behind the column across from the back end of the bar and sighted down forty-some years of good times. To my left was a traffic lane and as a southpaw I had to be careful with my brushes. Many patrons came and went at the bar during my scheduled 11:30 – 3:30 window. Some arrived together and talked over a drink before going to their table; others had lunch there, talking to the bartender or checking their messages. A woman came in with her dog—both of them a bit jittery—and the manager guided her to a seat where it wouldn’t pose a problem for the waitstaff or customers. Guests going past asked how to get to the restroom. I removed the feather from the red lady’s hat because it was a distraction.
Painting comes with responsibility. This is the Café Luxembourg and it has a way about it. I don’t want my image to be wrong, but I also don’t want it to portray more than I find. There is a knife-edge to that as the scene evolves and details emerge. I maintain a fresh take by mentally rebooting and revisiting my original encounter. That’s my subject. The outlines invoke Lautrec, which suits the circumstances. The viewer is held orbiting the four faces by the composition, and if one drifts away towards the edges, they are gently pulled back into the conversation. There is an empty stool if you would like to sit. And a good place to hang your hat.
* * *
See more of Robert Beck’s work and visit his UWS studio at www.robertbeck.net. Let him know if you have a connection to an archetypical UWS place or event that would make a good West Side Canvas subject. Thank you!
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
I always look forward to Beck’s painterly style of the UWS in both words on page and paint on canvas! Little, timeless moments I’m sure my future self will be nostalgic for.
Cafe Luxembourg is my second home. I started going when it first opened.
I love the painting. It expresses everything about Cafe Luxembourg!
If only it weren’t so close to the infamous McDonald’s, and I say this as someone with a Wells Fargo account.
Is it quieter than Balthazar, same owner?
Hey I was part of the first wave of servers there & the chef Patrick Clark r.i.p. used to send me to McDonald’s to get him a Big Mac! So there. One of the finest Chefs & so is his son.
Love the restaurant, the painting and Mr. Beck’s essay. I have been visiting Cafe Luxembourg for over thirty years. It’s as if the place drank a potion back when it opened that prevents it from becoming any of the things that usually put restaurants in NYC out of business. It has magically maintained it’s relevancy and appeal over 4 decades without really changing and without pretension, culinary or otherwise.
My theory is that it is located in a vibrant neighborhood that has many interesting residents, some famous and successful, some not famous but still successful, and others just able to appreciate a nice drink at a lively bar or a good plate of fries. And the owners understood that the best way for the restaurant to thrive in the long term is to make all those different local people feel welcome.
I knew that Cafe Luxembourg was special one Saturday night 20 something years ago when my husband and I absurdly wandered in at around 8:30pm after a movie, asking for a table. (this was the days when 8:30 was the height of the dinner hour in NYC). The place was packed and booming of course. I expected the maitre’d to laugh at us but instead they told us to have a seat at the bar and they would try to find a table for us: “shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes”. And it wasn’t. That is a neighborhood restaurant.
I love that you got Nick the bartender in there! Great painting, love it.
Lovely painting. Robert Beck never fails! For years I lived close to the Luxembourg and ate there often. I always wished I liked it more–it wasn’t bad except I was always physically uncomfortable at the bar or at the tables. I’m not that big–6 ft 175 but always felt confined, constricted, cramped. I felt little elbow room.. Not a major criticism but always left me disappointed. Yet for some this may be part of its charm.
I haven’t been there for quite awhile but the essay and lovely painting bring back many fond memories. I was amazed to learn that Mr. Beck could complete the painting within the four hour window he was given and I appreciated the historical information about the Cafe Luxembourg. Another reason to love Thursdays .
Bravo!
Years back I met a blind date at the bar at Luxe. He was a dapper fellow who parked his hat on the rack you mention.
What happened to that date is another story but meantime…
Thank you again for a wonderful take on a neighborhood icon….and in so doing you are becoming one as well!
YOUR BIGGEST FAN!
Lovely!
Robert, your use of all those warm browns and reds perfectly captures the feeling of the Luxembourg — warm and vibrant, but comfortable.
So many short-lived West Side restaurants could take a lesson from the Lux: welcome customers, treat them courteously even during the busy hours, feed them well, and cultivate return visits. It’s been their recipe for success for years.
WOW! So Glad this Gorgeous Bar/Restaurant is still Open! Was there Opening Night & Several Years after as a Regular when I lived on the UWS .Such a Uniquness to it!
Haven’t been back since then & the move to Los Angeles/SoHo..
With many New Yorker Mainstays closing at times like Barney’s, & Others, etc, it’s nice to know some things are as they were.. Cheers! 🥂🍾🍸🚬
Cafe Luxe was our “local” when we lived two doors down from 2012-2017. And still is when I visit from San Francisco.
Somehow I would forget about Luxembourg for years at a time, then return and be amazed at how it hadn’t changed at all, while next door a new place would have come and gone.