Join L’Alliance to Celebrate the 2025 Art de Vivre Award Winner

For ten years now, L’Alliance New York has honored the most influential people in the food, wine, fashion, and beauty industries with their Art de Vivre Award. These incredible individuals don’t just promote the French art of living, they embody it—and their creations are beloved by and well known to many. This year’s honoree is restaurateur Philippe Delgrange, founder of the Le Bilboquet Group of restaurants. We hope you will join us on Monday, June 2 for what’s sure to be an unforgettable evening!

Behind the Art de Vivre Award
Established in 2014, this award celebrates those who’ve become successful in their respective creative industries in order to give back to the next generation of entrepreneurs and dreamers. This year’s event includes cocktails in L’Alliance’s Le Skyroom, followed by dinner and an auction appropriately at Le Bilboquet. Funds raised through the Art de Vivre Award event support L’Alliance New York’s many cultural and educational programs, which underscores L’Alliance’s mission of providing members and students with multi-disciplinary cultural programming and French language classes that celebrate the diversity of francophone cultures from around the world.

Delgrange Joins a Storied Group of Honorees
When we say the most influential leaders have graced L’Alliance to accept this award, we mean it. We’ve honored everyone from businessman and perfume house founder Frédéric Malle to luxury fashion and art book publishers Martine and Prosper Assouline to hairstylist and entrepreneur Frédéric Fekkaï to beauty brand greats the Chantecaille family.

“For more than four decades, Philippe has been a cornerstone of New York City’s social, artistic, and culinary scene,” says L’Alliance New York President Tatyana Franck. “Philippe’s efforts have played a significant role in shaping the stretch of 60th Street between Madison and Park Avenue into a vibrant hub for francophone culture. We look forward to honoring Philippe for his generous hospitality and lasting influence.”

The Ingredients of Delgrange’s A-List Locale
Before he opened the doors of “Bilbo,” as his original Upper East Side French restaurant Le Bilboquet is affectionately known, Delgrange cut his teeth in the industry from the ground up. Born in Nord de la France, he showed an early interest in the restaurant industry—so early, in fact, that when he was 14 years old his parents had to obtain a special permit from then-President Charles de Gaulle so he could work in a kitchen.

In the 1970s, when he was just 18, Delgrange moved to New York City and received training at the renowned Atrium Club, then with famous Delmonico Hotel nightclub owner Régine Zyleberg, and finally at celebrated Madison Avenue French restaurant Le Relais. In 1986, he opened the first iteration of Le Bilboquet, a 450-square-foot, 32-seat white-tablecloth space on 63rd Street. It quickly became the place to see and be seen for the fashion elite, royals, and big-screen celebrities.

Delgrange’s ensuing success led to a 2013 expansion of Le Bilbo to a larger space on East 60th Street, as well as a pétite cafe and a sister Mediterranean restaurant nearby called Fleming—plus additional locations outside NYC in Palm Beach, Sag Harbor, Atlanta, Denver, and Dallas. He’s considered a titan of the industry and an embodiment of living in the style of a bon vivant.

Ready to wine and dine with Delgrange, L’Alliance New York leaders, and fellow food and culture-lovers? Get your tickets for the 2025 Art de Vivre Award celebration.