February brings a global mix of art, design and culinary flair. In New York, the Noguchi Museum spotlights the late sculptor’s lasting bond with the city in a new exhibition, while the London-born Punjabi spot Ambassador Clubhouse opens its lavish NoMad outpost. Across the Atlantic, London’s 200-year-old Simpson’s in the Strand returns as “the last grande dame restaurant,” restored by Jeremy King. Milan offers two hidden gems — a hardhat-only glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s Sala delle Asse mural at Sforza Castle, and a new speakeasy at boutique hotel Vico Milano, blending design and indulgence. Here, learn more about these notable openings across the world and more.

NEW YORK

‘Noguchi’s New York’ Exhibition

Isamu Noguchi, the late, great Japanese-American sculptor, lived in several cities around the world, but always returned to New York.

“I’m really a New Yorker,” he said late in his career. “Not Japanese, not a citizen of the world, just a New Yorker who goes wandering around like many New Yorkers.”

A new exhibition, “Noguchi’s New York,” runs through Sept. 13 at The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, N.Y. The show features sculptures’ project models, blueprints, photographs, short films and archival materials tracing Noguchi’s public works, including those altered or destroyed or never realized.

“Noguchi’s relationship with New York was one of constant return and reinvention,” said Kate Wiener, curator, The Noguchi Museum. “The city shaped him, challenged him, and ultimately became the ground on which some of his most ambitious ideas were tested.” — David Moin

Ambassador Clubhouse Expands Stateside

Ambassador Clubhouse, London’s beloved Punjabi restaurant, has opened its doors in New York’s NoMad neighborhood.

Helmed by chef Karan Mittal in New York, the menu is inspired by Northern India’s royal kitchens, street food, and family recipes. Favorite dishes from London include Original BBQ Butter Chicken Chops and Ranjit Shai Lobster, featured alongside new offerings like Aloo Mattar Satpura and Warqi Lamb Seekh Kebab. The cocktail menu is anchored by tequila and mezcal, blended with Punjab ingredients.

Owned by the sibling-founded JKS Restaurants group, Ambassador Clubhouse is named for the owners’ grandfather, who served as an Indian ambassador throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. The opulent restaurant interiors, spanning two levels, are inspired by the ambassador’s home in Dalhousie and grandeur of Northern Indian party mansions. Design details include original work by Punjab artists and also pay tribute to the region’s heritage, like the blue banding on the bar reflective of the Uch Sharif tomb, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. — Kristen Tauer

LONDON

The ‘Last Grande Dame Restaurant‘

The historic London hot spot Simpson’s in the Strand, beloved of literary greats, politicians and bon viveurs including Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, is reopening late February after a major refurbishment under the capital’s restaurateur-in-chief Jeremy King. The 200-year-old space at 100 Strand spans five floors and will house two restaurants, two bars and a big events space, with period features preserved and melded with modern elements courtesy of Studio Shayne Brady. King, who owns Arlington in Mayfair and The Park in Bayswater, calls Simpson’s “London’s last grande dame restaurant, and the prospect of restoring it to its former glory is the apotheosis of my career.” — Samantha Conti

MILAN

Hidden da Vinci

A rare mural by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting an enchanting pergola, will be on display for a limited time — but visitors will need a hardhat for this experience.

Until March 14, visitors will have a privileged view, via scaffolding, of one of the most guarded da Vinci masterpieces: Sforza Castle’s Sala delle Asse, painted in the late 15th century. The hall is currently under renovation.

The mural spans the expanse of the hall and is framed within a concave ceiling and whimsical arches and is said to bear inscriptions that chronicle landmark chapters of the life of 15th century duke Ludovico Maria Sforza, also known as Ludovico il Moro, including the marriage of his niece Bianca Maria to emperor Maximilian and the victory of Louis XII, king of France, over Ludovico il Moro.

During the nearly two decades in Milan, da Vinci honed in on his talent as an architect and city planner, propelling the city to its early glory. He improved the canal system and completed one of the most famous paintings of all time: The Last Supper.

For reservations, visit https://adartem.it/ — Sofia Celeste

A Speakeasy, Milanese Style

A new hidden locale is likely to entice the design curious. Luxury boutique hotel Vico Milano is accepting reservations for its speakeasy and restaurant where the mixologist is serving up new cocktails like Vico sours made with mediterranean gin, elderflower and basil and the chef is serving up small bites of wagyu beef brioches.

The seven-suite boutique hotel — the winner of two Michelin keys for 2025 and 2024 — is tucked away in a courtyard on Milan’s Corso Genova, just south of the city’s center.
 
Accented with handwoven carpets from Morocco and rattan chairs from Italian designer Carminati, the bar and dining area features just 18 seats, arranged across two nightly seatings, and will operate exclusively by reservation.

The hospitality space opened in 2021 and is a passion project of Neri Baccheschi Berti, who converted a fashion showroom, operated by his mother Aurora in the 1980s, into a shrine to design. — S.C.

PARIS

L’Aventure Gets Roomy

It may have been the place to be for endlessly glamorous nights in the 1970s, and perhaps again with the revival of its restaurant and club last year, but L’Aventure is also a place where you can now wake up with a view of the Arc de Triomphe.

Hospitality cornerstones Gilbert and Thierry Costes called on interiors mogul Vincent Darré for the 15-key five-star hotel on the tree-lined Avenue Victor Hugo off Place de L’Étoile. Articulated around a majestic central staircase serving all five floors, each of the rooms and suites has been imagined like a refuge with a touch of the theatrical.

At the very top is L’Appartement, a 1,500 square foot two-bedroom suite that takes the idea of a home away from home to its most luxurious expression, giving full play to rich textures, noble materials and motifs hand-sketched by Darré. — Lily Templeton

A Trip to the Levant

Take a sidestep away from the Haussmann-style stretch of Avenue de l’Opéra and it’s a trip to the Levant that awaits behind the luminous garnet-toned facade of Kubaba. The brainchild of Benjamin Cohen and Julien Casbas, who are behind noted Parisian eateries Jolia and Dalia, this new address unfurls a vision of Middle Eastern hospitality over three floors and some 4,000 square feet imagined by interior architect Laleh Asmi Assefi.

On the ground floor, the open kitchen draws the eyes with its bustling activity for the 100 or so diners who can be seated on this level. The first floor offers a more intimate experience, with an eye toward lingering over dinner and long tables for celebrations, while the top floor is modeled after the interior of a traditional khaïma tent, with fabric panels draping from the ceiling.

But wherever you alight, prepare for a feast, with pastillas of seasonal vegetables, a kefta-style smash burger, raki-flambéed clams and on weekends, shawarma served with bread freshly baked on a traditional saj griddle specially brought from Lebanon. — L.T.

LOS ANGELES

Damn, I Miss Paris

Celebrity stylist Jason Bolden and his husband, interior designer Adair Curtis, are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their hot Los Angeles-based cocktail bar, Damn, I Miss Paris. 

“For us, a bar serves as more than just a place to enjoy drinks; bars are unique spaces where creativity, design and community intersect. Damn, I Miss Paris is our opportunity to curate an atmosphere that encourages connection, conversation, and celebration of life’s moments,” Curtis and Bolden said of their West Adams contemporary creative cocktail bar, which was built on their shared passion for hosting and crafting experiences. — Emily Mercer