Chanterelle Sells Its Art à la Carte

Chanterelle relied on heavy hitters in the art world for its menu covers. Dozens of covers are now for sale, including those by, from left, Cy Twombly, selling for $3,000; Robert Rauschenberg, $1,000; and Marcel Marceau, $400.


By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Published: February 9, 2010

IF you dined at Chanterelle during its three-decade run, before opening the menu to contemplate its offerings you very likely paused to contemplate the menu itself.

Marisol, who did the inaugural cover, $800.
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Jennifer Bartlett’s is $400.



Over the years, David and Karen Waltuck, the owners of the restaurant, a fixture in TriBeCa before closing last fall just shy of its 30th anniversary, asked artists to design about 65 menu covers.

Now, the Waltucks have put dozens of the covers up for sale to help pay their creditors. Among the artists were Robert Indiana, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Eric Fischl, Ellsworth Kelly and Cy Twombly. And there was also the occasional writer or performer.



“Philippe Petit came to the restaurant with Milos Forman, but we already had a connection because at one time he dated my sister,” Ms. Waltuck said. “We became friends, and he drew a chanterelle on a rope.” The price of that cover: $600.

The person most responsible for getting artists to participate, she said, was Bill Katz, who designed the restaurant’s TriBeCa location and its original one, in SoHo. “He knew many, many of the artists,” she said “and he really curated the collection.”



As more artists came to dinner with their friends, she said, “it gave the restaurant a sort of Old World salon feel.”

For the artists, dinners were often free. Mr. Fischl recalled how he became involved. “They had just moved to Harrison Street, and they asked whether I would do a cover in exchange for some meals,” he said. “It was a no-brainer. The idea of food and art and pleasure all tied together. So I did a delicious and sexy kind of beach scene, an original drawing.” The cover’s price: $800.

Others joined in. Louise Nevelson created a black-and-white abstraction for Virgil Thomson’s 90th birthday, and Thomson created one of his own. “The cover that Virgil did was a portrait of me in music,” Ms. Waltuck said.



That cover can now be had for $250, but the Nevelson is not available.

The covers, which are for sale at chanterellenyc.com/art, are in silk screen or lithograph, and some are available in multiples. There is also a Champagne label that was designed for the restaurant’s 15th anniversary by Adam Fuss, although it is not available.

All of the covers were appraised by Christie’s in 2008. With prices ranging from $250 to $3,000, they stand to bring in at least $60,000. About 15 of them have already been sold, including two by Kiki Smith for $3,000 each.



The Waltucks are donating a complete set to New York Public Library’s menu collection.

Another site being run by the Waltucks, chanterellestore.com, which will be shut down sometime next week, also offers Chanterelle furnishings and accessories, as well as the Waltucks’ services to prepare and serve dinner for eight in the buyer’s home, complete with flowers by Mrs. Waltuck. Four of the dinners, at $6,000 a pop, have been booked.