Antwerp is not the only city that makes me think of bicycles galore, but there seems to be a lot more charm watching people gliding through this beautiful Belgian city than within the frenzied streets of, say, Bangkok or New York.  It’s rather like watching one of those 1950s MGM travelogues, for if you stay in the center of Antwerp, you’ll have much the same sense of a populace not in a rush to get anywhere fast.
    Although occupied by the Germans and recaptured by the Allies in World War II—it has an important seaport—Antwerp suffered little battle damage, and its most historic monuments are both intact and very well maintained. Today it is very much an international city, with 176 nationalities living among the native Belgian populace.Many have arrived through the magnificent train station, one of the finest in post-war Europe (left).
      Antwerp's historic center and City Hall is Old Market Square, built around the famous Gothic and early Renaissance guild houses of merchants, artisans and city leaders who helped make Belgium exceedingly rich in their day. The buildings' stateliness may reflect the sober-sided business soul of the city, but it is softened by decorous touches, and in the center is the tall, curious statue of a legend about a terrible giant who repeatedly attacked the city, finally vanquished by an improbable Italian hero who tore off the giant's huge hands, which to this day he holds up for everyone to see. 
    The tallest spire in the city—404 feet high—atop the Roman Catholic Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady (below), is a focal point you can see, and get your bearings from, anywhere in the city. Begun in 1352, the edifice has never been wholly completed—there seems always a construction fence around it. But it is a triumph of Gothic architecture, which, its façade now cleaned, shows how light the style was intended to be in the Middle Ages. Inside are three of the greatest masterpieces by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens—The Raising of the Cross, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary and The Descent from the Cross.
    Outside the church is a beloved statue derived from the children’s story A Dog of Flanders (1872) by the English author Marie Louise de la Ramee, known as Ouija,  set in Antwerp.  Oddly enough, the story became far more popular in Japan and Korea than in Belgium, but Antwerp finally capitalized on its world renown by erecting this sad statue (left).
    For those who cannot get enough of Rubens’ flamboyantly fleshy style, there is also Rubenshuis, Rubens' house (below), which features a newly restored self-portrait and a renovated portico and garden. This is a particularly good time to assess Rubens as the city just debuted its Antwerp Baroque 2018, which celebrates the city’s baroque cultural heritage and baroque lifestyle. I also recommend a stop at the Plantin Moretus Museum, the beautifully secluded home of a 16th century bookbinder and printer named Christoffel Plantin, now dedicated to the history of printing but also a prime example of the architecture and décor of the period.   
    Brand new in the city is DIVA, an extraordinary paean to Antwerp’s distinction as the center of the world’s diamond industry (below).  Spread over three floors is a dazzling array of treasures and diamond lore, including The Wunderkammer, a chamber exhibiting a collection of curiosities, with objects from every corner of the globe brought together along with the history of city’s main industry.  The International Trading Room is centered with a gorgeous globe projecting the trade routes along which the diamonds traveled. The Dining Room is a surrealist arrangement of tables, decked out for the grandest of banquets imaginable, with voice recordings commenting on the extravagance of it all. The Vault features bank boxes full of diamond lore, including insight into diamond crime internationally and what is being done to tackle the problem. Last is The Boudoir, containing DIVA’s most precious treasures. Downstairs is a gift shop of daunting luxury.
    Since opening this spring DIVA has become one of the most popular destinations. Tickets for adults are €10, for those under 26, €7, and children under 12 enter free.
    Kammenstraat is a lovely street of historic, well-restored buildings housing local boutiques, along with American chain stores, while  Nationalestraat has more stylish, cutting edge fashion stores like Stay, run by the Coucke sisters as both a clothing store and a place to have lunch (right). Morrison is the city’s most modern men’s store. Rosier 41 (its address) is known for its high quality secondhand designers clothes.
    The best buy in town is to get the Antwerp City Card, available in 24-hour (€27), 48-hour (€35) or 72-hour (€40) options, giving you free access or a discount at all must-sees in the city and free pubic transport.

    Unless you stick a celebrity chef’s name on the door, giving an identity to a hotel dining room is far from easy at a time when personality beats individuality most of the time. More often than not, the celebrity chef simply puts ink on a contract, appends his name to the word “Steakhouse” and that’s that.
    Perrine is a case in point that demonstrates how a hotel dining room can rise on its own steam and conviviality to attract a daily, nightly and Sunday brunch crowd while being largely ignored by the food media.  Anywhere but New York, Perrine would be both outstanding and much talked about. In New York it must, for the time being, be content with being the former.
    A little context is in order. The hotel in question is the Pierre, one of the city’s most historic and elegant spots, opened in 1930 on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park. For decades its Café Pierre, with its trompe l’oeuil cloudy sky ceiling by Valerian Rybar, was a major watering hole for New York society and its tea service was famous. The tango scene in the film Scent of a Woman was shot in The Pierre's Cotillion Ballroom.
    But changes in taste and ownership (since 2005 under the control of the Taj Group) shifted the restaurant’s fortunes to a more casual tone, although at one point it was intent on being the snootiest restaurant in New York by importing London’s own snootiest eatery, Le Caprice, which New Yorkers quickly ignored into oblivion. This was followed by an Italian trattoria managed by the Maccioni family of Le Cirque, but its run, too, was brief.
    Now this long space beyond the revolving doors off Fifth Avenue has as much of a bar crowd as a dining room clientele, some from the rooms above, many neighborhood regulars.  The room is as sleek and shiny as an Aston-Martin showroom, with fine black-and-white colors and artwork, silvery accents, a dramatically striped carpet and soft white linens, all of it well lighted.
    Executive Chef Ashfer Biju (right) was raised in Kerala, India, in a family of restaurateurs, and his experiences cooking in London and Southeast Asia have allowed him cannily to introduce Eastern seasonings and spices into his dishes that make them considerably more delectable than they might otherwise be.  His food is very balanced, very colorful, joyfully composed. All breads and pastries, under Michael Mignano, are made on premises, including the Indian naan that accompanies a dish like crab imperial scented with fennel, herbs and a shot of jalapeño, along with creamy Gruyère cheese ($19). It also shows in the wonderful zucchini flatbread with chilies, Parmigiano and a touch of lemon juice ($19), big enough for the table to share (left).
    Tuna tartare has a fine texture and arrives with green beans, cucumber, summer’s most aromatic basil, olives and a Dijon mustard dressing ($19), while char-grilled octopus, so often presented with little garnish or flair, comes with golden tomatoes, sunflower shoots, kale and a vivid red pepper sauce ($18). You’ll not find a better vegetable dish in town right now than Biju’s baby eggplant salad with spiced yogurt, crunchy hazelnuts and a dressing of honey gremolata ($19).
    There are nightly specials, which include an old-fashioned chicken pot pie ($35) on Monday and beef Wellington ($46) on Wednesday.  I was at Perrine on Thursday, so I was able to enjoy scallops whose recipe dates back to a 1940 Princess Ball held at the hotel: the mollusks are first seared and given a gratin of Gruyere breadcrumbs, then cooked in butter and served with a mushrooms duxelle, turnips, lemon zest and chopped chives.
    Among the main courses is a plate of very lusty, richly spiced beef short ribs (right) with a sweet parsnip puree and roasted Romesco sauce ($42). The lamb chops ($45) come from a farm across the Hudson in New Jersey, and they are well-trimmed, leaving some of the sweet fat, succulent and well accompanied by summer squash, smoked tomato and peach, as if they’d just come off an outdoor grill. (Up to 50% of the products used at Perrine are from the Tri-State area.) A seafood broth is the savory base for gently simmered black sea bass with fava beans and fines herbes ($38).
    What a treat in August to find old fashioned cherry pie (for two) on the menu (left), with cheesecake ice cream to boot ($17). And Chef Mignano does an irresistible tres leches cake with honey-poached apricot and lemony verbena ice cream ($14), and an item called “The Candy Bar” ($12) of dark chocolate, macadamia nuts, caramel and a Graham cracker crust, which someone over at Mars candy company should steal.
    Perrine’s wine list is based on a cellar that’s been building for years, but nothing on it is much of a bargain.
    I’m pretty sure that if Perrine had a celebrity chef arrangement, the room would look not half so appealing and the food would be produced by rote according to that chef’s all-purpose notes.  With Biju in command—and he oversees the Rotunda and all other food units of the Pierre—Perrine is very much all of its own style and very close to what classic New York glamour should be about. 

Open for breakfast daily, lunch Mon.-Sat., Brunch Sun., dinner nightly.