Midday in Paris
A Sunny French Bistro in Nolita

We don’t like to tell you what to do.

And you don’t like being told what to do.

So today, we’re going with a real laissez-faire approach to your leisure time.

It’ll happen at Cantine Parisienne, a big open bistro with lots of natural light and some extremely French-sounding food from the Tartinery guys, opening tonight in the Nolitan Hotel.

Take a load off here. Don’t have anywhere to be. Just have some coffee and a pastry. Tell the waitress you’re not ready a few times. Because you’re here to relax and people-watch. To converse. Then, eventually, have some pâté and veal scallops.

You’ve got a café (near the hotel lobby), a restaurant and a bar at your service. Just grab a spot that looks comfortable. It’s all visible from anywhere you pick. Light-gray hues on everything, sunlight or streetlights beaming through 20-foot windows. If you’ve got sexy Serge Gainsbourg songs playing in your head, well, you’ve got the idea.

They’ve even got cocktails named for Serge and Jane Birkin (by a vet from the Dutch)—one with cognac, Chartreuse, vermouth and bitters, and one with gin, applejack, lemon, lime and egg white. And you’ll want one of those.

There’s a strict bring-your-own-Bardot policy, though.