Carol Han

I'm Carol Han, fashion editor, writer, and sometime piano player. I love food, books, clothes, and music. I hate the horse carriages in Central Park.

This is my blog.

You can email me at carroll.han@gmail.com

July 20

Paris Notebook: Restaurants

Lately, I’ve been getting more than a few email requests from readers asking about my favorite restaurants in Paris (which so happens to be my favorite city, aside from my adopted home, NYC). And so, I’ve decided to republish a little list of delicious spots I put together for ELLE a couple of months ago. Here you have it:

1. Le Diane (46, Avenue George, 01-40-69-60-60): located in the Fouquet’s Barriere hotel and overlooking a chic and expansive terrace, this is a supremely elegant way to spend an evening. It served up one of the best meals of the week, starting with a butter tasting (yes, you read that right) that was composed of four different types of soft artisanal butter. When I started to feel pangs of guilt about the caloric intake, my dinner partner assured me that it was “fine to eat so much butter because it’s pure French butter, and not mixed with unhealthy oils and fats” the way American butters apparently are. Hence the reason I love this town.

2. Citrus Etoile (6 Rue Arsene Houssaye, 01-42-89-15-51) : Newly opened by Michelin-starred chef, Gilles Epie and his gorgeous ex-model wife, this restaurant serves fresh, innovative dishes like foie gras fried in tempura batter and raw zucchini diced into tiny crumbs and drizzled with olive oil.

3. Vins des Pyrenees (25, Rue Beautreillis, 01-42-72-64-94): A cozy, authentic Parisian brasserie situated between the Marais and the Bastille (two of the coolest neighborhoods in the city), Vins des Pyrenees gave me my favorite meal of the week. Their homemade terrine of foie gras was smooth and fresh and delicious and their cod (served over ratatouille) was one of the freshest pieces of fish I’ve ever had.

4. Le Comptoir du Relais (9 Carrefour de l’Odeon, 6th Arr, 01-44-27-07-97): I had my last Paris meal here (involving foie gras, of course—I ate about 15 pounds of the stuff over the course of the week). Yves Camdeborde does amazing things with beef bourgignon and also manages to make a perfect cappuccino. You can stop in at his casual little counter shop right next door to pick up a transcendently good chocolate crepe, made steaming hot right in front of you, for a walking dessert.

5. Cafe de Flore (172, Bld Saint Germain, 01-45-48-55-26): One of the oldest cafes in Paris, this little gem of a spot is where such literary luminaries as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre did much of their writing. Their perfectly runny cheese omelette melts in your mouth.

6. Le Pre Verre (8 Rue Thenard, 5th Arr, 01-43-54-59-57): The menu changes almost daily at this tiny, bustling restaurant located in the heart of the Quartier Latin. The Delacourcelle brothers believe in market-fresh ingredients and it shows—the asparagus spears I had here were flawlessly crisp and bright.

Happy Eating!

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Item of the Day: Alexander Wang leather vest. Every girl needs a fierce leather vest for fall. Ideally, it should come from the king of downtown cool, Alex Wang. ‘Nuff said.
Item of the Day: Alexander Wang leather vest. Every girl needs a fierce leather vest for fall. Ideally, it should come from the king of downtown cool, Alex Wang. ‘Nuff said.
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I just stepped in from a weekend in Montauk. Peter (the handsome dude at the wheel of the boat) is one of my close friends and was kind enough to host Emily and I for the weekend. After 24 hours of eating (at Second House Tavern—delicious), drinking (at Surf Lodge—very fun), and hanging out (at Peter’s octagonal house), we hopped on his boat and drove out to the middle of the ocean where I attempted to fish for about 3.2 minutes before reverting right back to laying around the front of the boat listening to the sound of the moving water beneath me. Utter relaxation.
I just stepped in from a weekend in Montauk. Peter (the handsome dude at the wheel of the boat) is one of my close friends and was kind enough to host Emily and I for the weekend. After 24 hours of eating (at Second House Tavern—delicious), drinking (at Surf Lodge—very fun), and hanging out (at Peter’s octagonal house), we hopped on his boat and drove out to the middle of the ocean where I attempted to fish for about 3.2 minutes before reverting right back to laying around the front of the boat listening to the sound of the moving water beneath me. Utter relaxation.
July 19
We shot our first video segments for StyleCaster at Kirna Zabete on Wednesday. Exciting!! Here are the super-talented, charming boys, Chadd Herbold and Daniel Berk, from Last Pictures on set…they’re handling our production. Thanks for the great day, guys!
We shot our first video segments for StyleCaster at Kirna Zabete on Wednesday. Exciting!! Here are the super-talented, charming boys, Chadd Herbold and Daniel Berk, from Last Pictures on set…they’re handling our production. Thanks for the great day, guys!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY! At Giorgione’s for gal pal Kelly Ricci’s dinner last week.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY! At Giorgione’s for gal pal Kelly Ricci’s dinner last week.
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My pals Derry and Drew with their cute dates last week during the Philharmonic’s free concert in Central Park. As you can see, the lawn gets unbelievably packed—it’s a figurative sea of people—so get there as early as possible to grab prime lawn real estate.
My pals Derry and Drew with their cute dates last week during the Philharmonic’s free concert in Central Park. As you can see, the lawn gets unbelievably packed—it’s a figurative sea of people—so get there as early as possible to grab prime lawn real estate.
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There’s nothing like a picnic in the park during a New York summer. I wrangled a fun group of friends to hear the Philharmonic give one of it’s free summer concerts in Central Park last week. Thank goodness for well-seasoned picnic-goers….we couldn’t hear much of the concert since Drew chose to seat us practically in the lake all the way in the back….ahem :)
There’s nothing like a picnic in the park during a New York summer. I wrangled a fun group of friends to hear the Philharmonic give one of it’s free summer concerts in Central Park last week. Thank goodness for well-seasoned picnic-goers….we couldn’t hear much of the concert since Drew chose to seat us practically in the lake all the way in the back….ahem :)
July 14
My old alma mater, ELLE.com, recently published the last story I worked on with them. I flew to Paris a few months ago to, amongst other projects, interview Isabel Marant, one of my favorite French designers. She was truly lovely and amazing—humble, quirky, funny, cultured, down-to-earth, and smart as a whip. I loved every minute of the afternoon I spent with her visiting her favorite art galleries and stores. Looking at these pictures makes me desperate to visit Paris again! Thinking about that city gives me the odd, wrenching feeling of being homesick for a place I’ve never actually lived in. Strange.

My old alma mater, ELLE.com, recently published the last story I worked on with them. I flew to Paris a few months ago to, amongst other projects, interview Isabel Marant, one of my favorite French designers. She was truly lovely and amazing—humble, quirky, funny, cultured, down-to-earth, and smart as a whip. I loved every minute of the afternoon I spent with her visiting her favorite art galleries and stores.

Looking at these pictures makes me desperate to visit Paris again! Thinking about that city gives me the odd, wrenching feeling of being homesick for a place I’ve never actually lived in. Strange.

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Best picture ever: this is one of my hands-down favorite designers, Isabel Marant, and I leaving an art gallery in Paris after spending an idyllic afternoon walking around and chatting. Photo taken by the uber-talented Rachel Rebibo.
Best picture ever: this is one of my hands-down favorite designers, Isabel Marant, and I leaving an art gallery in Paris after spending an idyllic afternoon walking around and chatting. Photo taken by the uber-talented Rachel Rebibo.
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The Best Thing Happened to Me Today....

I was walking along Prince Street in SoHo after doing some pre-shoot work for StyleCaster in Kirna Zabete (fyi, eggplant patent Lanvin stacked heels on sale for $382 from $995 RIGHT NOW) when a gorge, stylish girl named Ruth came running up to me to tell me that she reads my blog all the time, that she “so admires” what I do, and that she’s here from Michigan interning in the fashion department of Glamour magazine partly because of the inspiration she’s gotten from reading about my daily style trials and tribulations.

Made my day. Thanks, Ruth! :) 

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Item of the Day: 3.1 Phillip Lim floral chiffon midi dress. This is one of my favorite fall pieces that Phillip did so far. It’s romantic and flowy with a slight touch of mid-90s grunge. It’s something that Winona Ryder would’ve worn in her Reality Bites hey day. It’s something that I would wear on a date with tousled hair, day-old eyeliner, a pair of worn, scuffed boots and some fab long necklaces. Pure modern romance.
Item of the Day: 3.1 Phillip Lim floral chiffon midi dress. This is one of my favorite fall pieces that Phillip did so far. It’s romantic and flowy with a slight touch of mid-90s grunge. It’s something that Winona Ryder would’ve worn in her Reality Bites hey day. It’s something that I would wear on a date with tousled hair, day-old eyeliner, a pair of worn, scuffed boots and some fab long necklaces. Pure modern romance.
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After a HUGE sushi dinner at Lure Fishbar, the girls and I headed to my new obsession: the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. This is the (second) best ice cream in the city (second only to Cones). They source all their ingredients from places like Sicily (their pistachios) and Piedmont (their hazelnuts). In addition, the rich 18 percent butterfat ice cream is made entirely from local, hormone and antibiotic-free milk and cream. In short, everything from the toppings to the fruit is exotic and organic. Yum. From left to right: me (with a mouthful of pistachio ice cream), Christine Oh (of uber-fashion-PR firm Bismarck Phillips), Laney Crowell (my homie at StyleCaster), cute hipster ice cream truck guy, and Fernanda (of Bismarck Phillips).
After a HUGE sushi dinner at Lure Fishbar, the girls and I headed to my new obsession: the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. This is the (second) best ice cream in the city (second only to Cones). They source all their ingredients from places like Sicily (their pistachios) and Piedmont (their hazelnuts). In addition, the rich 18 percent butterfat ice cream is made entirely from local, hormone and antibiotic-free milk and cream. In short, everything from the toppings to the fruit is exotic and organic. Yum. From left to right: me (with a mouthful of pistachio ice cream), Christine Oh (of uber-fashion-PR firm Bismarck Phillips), Laney Crowell (my homie at StyleCaster), cute hipster ice cream truck guy, and Fernanda (of Bismarck Phillips).
July 7
The Wackness, a movie set in 1994 Manhattan, is the best film I’ve seen in months. I laughed through the entire thing, even though I managed to somehow walk into the wrong theatre, catching the last half hour of it, before walking into the right one to watch the first hour, minus 15 minutes or so of the very beginning (don’t ask). Olivia Thirlby, who played Ellen Page’s hilarious best friend in Juno, is the next big thing, for sure—her portrayal of the female lead Stephanie was totally captivating. Best line of the movie is a tough one but I’m opting for a scene when Stephanie and Luke are at a Fire Island beach house. Luke is worried about where their new relationship is headed and Stephanie says, “That’s your problem, Shapiro. I see the dopeness in everything and you just see the wackness.”

The Wackness, a movie set in 1994 Manhattan, is the best film I’ve seen in months. I laughed through the entire thing, even though I managed to somehow walk into the wrong theatre, catching the last half hour of it, before walking into the right one to watch the first hour, minus 15 minutes or so of the very beginning (don’t ask). Olivia Thirlby, who played Ellen Page’s hilarious best friend in Juno, is the next big thing, for sure—her portrayal of the female lead Stephanie was totally captivating.

Best line of the movie is a tough one but I’m opting for a scene when Stephanie and Luke are at a Fire Island beach house. Luke is worried about where their new relationship is headed and Stephanie says, “That’s your problem, Shapiro. I see the dopeness in everything and you just see the wackness.”

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I went on the half-hour-long ferry ride to see all four of Olafur Eliasson’s public art exhibit, The Waterfalls, last week. It’s just the thing to do on a beautiful summer night—the sunset, the water, the wind, and the seemingly slow-motion movement of falling water make for a perfectly peaceful trip.
I went on the half-hour-long ferry ride to see all four of Olafur Eliasson’s public art exhibit, The Waterfalls, last week. It’s just the thing to do on a beautiful summer night—the sunset, the water, the wind, and the seemingly slow-motion movement of falling water make for a perfectly peaceful trip.