Get ready for a guest and a restaurant that are unapologetically analog.

Building community among our FOH colleagues is the primary reason we started Maitre d’ Diaries, so it’s fitting that wine & spirit OG and self-proclaimed connection artist, Ryan Looper, launched us on the trail to meet the bewitchingly romantic restaurateur, Tina Vaughn, co-owner of Eulalie, in Tribeca. 

Tina and her husband Chef Chip Smith have a decidedly nostalgic, if not utopian, approach to restaurant ownership, which you will quickly discover when you try to make a reservation. 

Eulalie books tables exclusively by phone, has a long (and enjoyably quixotic) voice message, actually calls you back, presents hand-written menus, envelops you in a quiet dining room (by NYC standards) and respectfully suggests you put your phone on a time out while you dine.

Located in the former space of Montrachet, Corton, and Batard, Eulalie earned the second 3 star New York Times review for this talented couple. Their first was for The Simone on the Upper East Side, which opened in 2013 and closed in 2022 after the pandemic. 

Listen in to hear: 

~ Tina’s journey from Rockette to wine pairing whisperer

~ Chip and Tina’s tres romantique “meet cute in a restaurant” story 

~ How a wine from Chateau de Cenac in Cahors gave the restaurant its name

~ The ways in which working with Larry Forgione, Jean-Louis Palladin, and Patrick O’Connell influenced Chip’s cooking

~ Where Tina and Chip like to dine when they aren’t working

~ Why Tina would like to see table times 86ed