Deborah Baldwin

Deborah Baldwin is a veteran editor and writer, most recently for This Old House; previously, she was an editor for The New York Times, working on the Style section and other parts of the newspaper. She and her husband, Irwin Arieff, wrote restaurant reviews for The Washington Post and Washington City Paper in the 1980s and 1990s.

In a Rare Sign of Unity, the World Celebrates Cycling

Deborah Baldwin

• May 25, 2022

There are not many things that United Nations members can all agree on, but who can contest the glories of the humble bike? With its narrow frame, tiny carbon footprint and ample contributions to health and well-being, the bike has few enemies. Which helps explain how, against all odds, a Polish-American cycling enthusiast named …

Cities, Climate Change, General Assembly

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UN EATS

Order With Gusto

Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff

• May 5, 2022

Everything about Montagu’s Gusto is unexpected, from its name and the size and sweep of its menu to its location, on a nondescript stretch of Second Avenue near 35th Street, sandwiched between a reflexology salon and a Chinese takeout bizarrely named Profit. The menu’s breadth aside, this modest spot (14 minutes by foot from …

UN EATS

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BOOKS

A Fresh Look Back at Two UN Deaths in the Congo

Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin

• January 15, 2022

Nearly five years after the murder of two United Nations investigators in a rough and lonely patch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their lives and their deaths have become a metaphor for the extraordinary challenges faced by the UN and other international actors promoting peace in the world’s most forlorn and unsavory …

Africa, BOOKS, UN Peacekeeping

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UN EATS

Warm Your Hands in Front of the Shawarma

Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff

• December 28, 2021

Once upon a time, self-appointed food critics tasted a dish and gave it thumbs up (or down). These days it has to pass a different test. Is it ready for its close-up? Don’t blame restaurants for tuning in. As a recent email pitch from one restaurant suggested, you really must try its “Instagramable Bottomless …

UN EATS

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WORLDVIEWS

A Christmas Past in Paris, Cherishing a Bûche de Noël

Deborah Baldwin

• December 22, 2021

It says something about a people’s thirst for delicacies when le tout Paris is elbow to elbow at the foie gras stand, under the stars, on one of the darkest, coldest nights of the year. Wouldn’t it be easier to order in? It was 1994: my husband, Irwin, and our 14-year-old daughter, Alexis, and …

WORLDVIEWS

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UN EATS

Dahlias for Your Darling, and a Lavender Latte While You Wait

Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff

• October 14, 2021

The next time you pass by a florist who is pulling shots, pull over. It’s not often you get to inhale the heady perfume of freshly brewed coffee, hand-tied bouquets and artfully potted flowering plants. Remarkably, you can have this most un-Starbucksian experience — and pastry — at two spots along Second Avenue just …

UN Diplomats, UN EATS

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UN EATS

A Crozes-Hermitage With That Burger, Please

Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin

• November 21, 2019

Second Avenue near the United Nations is not exactly expense-account row, which makes Château 49 something of an anomaly, in more ways than one. There aren’t many spots in this area where you can order two glasses of red wine at high noon without apology, tuck into slow-cooked coq au vin and relax over …

UN EATS

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UN EATS

Art and Lunch, a Felicitous Blend at Rose Hill

Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin

• April 27, 2018

Some people at the United Nations remain in mourning since Matisse shut down in February after serving as the corner cantine to hungry diplomats and their friends and neighbors for nearly nine years. If you are still feeling a void in your lunchtime routine, there’s good news: a sister restaurant called Rose Hill opened …