Has there ever been a fictional character with a more glamourised lifestyle than Carrie Bradshaw? She’s worn designer bags as well as shoes that have sold out immediately afterwards, made Magnolia Bakery world famous and, this past summer, even had a pop-up “experience” dedicated to her in an empty space in Soho. One doesn’t need to “couldn’t-help-but-wonder” why: Carrie made being single and living in New York seem like an endless, well-dressed adventure, where carriage rides in Central Park with romantic millionaires, fabulous parties in Tribeca, and trips to the Vogue closet were always in reach. So when visiting New York City, it’s always fun to see the sites that made up her fantasy.
Many of the places featured in Sex and the City have closed since the show ended in 2004 (RIP Barneys). However, in And Just Like That, a new set of hotspots serve as the setting for Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, Lisa, Nya and Seema’s escapades.
Below, an And Just Like That guide to New York City.
After an initial address mix-up, Carrie and Aidan reunite at Benoit, the Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse restaurant. This year, Benoit is celebrating its 15th-year anniversary – an accomplishment for any business, especially one in the notoriously difficult New York City hospitality field.
It’s as close as one can get to a classic French bistro this side of the Atlantic: their onion soup is divine, as is the escargot. Although And Just Like That didn’t show what Carrie and Aidan got for dessert, we’d like to imagine it was their famous chocolate soufflé.
Whereas Sex and the City saw Carrie and co going to an adventurous array of watering holes to pick up men – who remembers the firemen calendar contest on Staten Island? – And Just Like That shows Seema, Nya and Carrie going to the bar at the five-star Baccarat Hotel. (Seema assures the crew it’s “the place to meet single men” – and she’s right, they do.) The 60-foot bar offers fine wines and exquisitely crafted cocktails, all served in Baccarat Crystal and under Baccarat chandeliers.
Seema has a disastrous lunch with Zed and his ex-wife at Daniel, Daniel Boulud’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Midtown. It’s one of New York’s most critically acclaimed and fanciest eateries – the main dining room serves a four-course prix-fixe menu or a seven-course tasting menu – however, for more casual à la carte dining, you can sit in their lounge.
Herbert and Lisa have drinks at The Mark Bar to celebrate being child-free after they send their kids off to summer camp. Designed by Jacques Grange, the room’s cow print couches have always attracted a glamorous Upper East Side set looking to grab martinis after work.
Charlotte is horrified to find her daughter Lily’s Chanel dress on “The Real Deal” during lunch at Le Coucou with Lisa. Even worse – it’s on sale. (“I think that’s Lagerfeld’s last collection,” Lisa says, rubbing salt in the wound.) The tell-tale sign? The 18th century-inspired mural by New York-based painter Dean Barger, which you can spy in the background. The interior design as a whole was carried out by the critically acclaimed firm Roman and Williams.
“Juan Jose was my longest relationship: 10 years of blowouts and confidences,” Seema laments to Carrie about her hardest break-up – her hairdresser. In the background is the distinctive blue bar of Kyu, the Asian-fusion restaurant in NoHo known for its salmon crispy rice, Mongolian pork belly and coconut cake. (In addition to New York, they also have locations in Miami and Mexico City.)
Herbert Wexley brags to his wife, Lisa, that he got a reservation for Valentine’s Day at Monkey Bar. (“I just got us a table at Monkey Bar,” he says. “Let’s just say that Henry is no longer going to college.”) And with good reason: it’s one of the hardest-to-get reservations in town after reopening in 2022 under the team behind 4 Charles. (The Midtown restaurant has been around since 1936, but closed during the pandemic.) The Art Deco dining room is best known for its Ed Sorel mural, which depicts Jazz Age icons.
Seema and Carrie go to get Valentine’s Day massages at The Well, the 13,000 square foot Flatiron spa that has an impressive crowd of devotees ranging from social media influencers to CEOs thanks to its East-meets-West medicinal approach. (An example? A facial that combines Biologique Recherche products with acupuncture.)
When Carrie meets Aidan’s ex-wife for coffee, she does so at La Mercerie, the French restaurant in Soho that also doubles as a furniture store and flower shop, among many things. The brainchild of Roman and Williams – who also designed another restaurant on this list, Le Coucou – it’s known as an easygoing yet elevated hotspot in the bustling downtown neighbourhood. “We knew we wanted it to be a place where people could spend the day,” co-founder Robin Standefer told Vogue in 2017. “That’s why we decided to have a café, a bookstore and flowers.”
“Look at all this gorgeous glass!” Charlotte coos in the middle of the Tin Building, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s 53,000-square-foot food emporium housed in the old Fulton Fish Market. The ladies also have brunch at Seeds and Weeds, its aptly named vegetarian restaurant. To drop a familiar name, the Tin Building was also designed by Roman and Williams.
After selling an Alex Israel painting, Charlotte celebrates at Chapel Bar – perhaps a little too hard: she returns to her Upper East Side apartment drunk and without her phone. (She thinks she left it in a pitcher of margaritas.) The space, which is now part of the Fotografiska Museum, has a fascinating history: built in the 1860s by James Renwick Jr – the same architect behind St Patrick’s Cathedral – the small brownstone chapel originally served as a chapel for the seminary next door. Several years later, the building became a school for girls. By the late 1900s, it had fallen into disrepair. Yet by the late 2010s, the building had attracted a new investor: notorious fraudster Anna Delvey, who eyed it for her members’ club that, uh, never materialised. Now, it’s known as a hotspot for New York’s art crowd... and it, too, was designed by Roman and Williams.
