(Tony Soprano's robe)

Like all great icons, Tony Soprano is fully realized in the public imagination. If you doubt that, head to Christie's on June 25 for the pop culture auction where you can bid on clothes worn while filming of show. It's a veritable history of our friends from Jersey: from Tony's bloody shirt when he was shot by Uncle Junior to his signature leather jacket. Perhaps the definitive offering is the bathrobe Tony wore loping down the driveway to pick up his morning paper. You can almost feel his hangover from a night at Bada Bing.

Moving into more garish territory are tracksuits worn by characters like Paulie and Hesh that approach downright hilarity with their louche grandiosity. The cultural miscellany doesn't stop there, the auction ranges from Dean Martin's belt buckle to Jack Kerouac's portable radio. At the opposite end of the sartorial spectrum from the Sopranos is a Western style shirt worn by Hank Williams that's the last word on frontier cool. --DAVID COGGINS

(Hesh's tracksuit)

(Hank Williams's shirt)

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For a place that serves scrapple as a breakfast special, John's Roast Pork has some pretty exalted company.  The restaurant, a South Philadelphia institution that's not much more than a shack with some outdoor seating, won a James Beard Foundation award for culinary excellence in 2006.  That's chiefly due to its Philly cheesesteak, which draws devotees every day who line up for the robust hoagie.

Cheesesteaks taste better than they look -- maybe that's why people eat them so fast. In the case of John's, you move through the line and shout out your order in a system that seems highly scientific. You have to admire a place where the lightest thing on the menu is the roast pork sandwich (made from the same recipe since the joint opened in 1930).  Head to John's during the week--they're closed on weekends--and don't think about getting there late. They shut at 3pm but the grill closes at 2:30pm sharp, no exceptions. When you become a legend, you make your own rules. --DAVID COGGINS

14 E. Snyder Avenue
215-463-1951

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For decades the display cases at Tiffany & Co. have sent chills down the spine of the gentleman bachelor. One look at the array of engagement rings and it's clear to our Lothario that playtime is over. Maybe that's why Tiffany & Co. recently launched a Patek Philippe salon, the first in the nation, inside their flagship New York store. Now jittery grooms can relax in a luxurious art deco lounge, receive private chronographic consultations, and stroll the in-house museum, filled with rare specimens from the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. Absent minded suitors would do well to pick up the the Perpetual Calender, which clocks in at $89,600, and is sure to get you to the church on time, and in style. --BEN POPPER

Patek Phillipe Salon
727 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY, 10022

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(Jenny Kim of PRC and Treena Lomardo of W.)

Jil Sander celebrated the opening of its downtown outpost last night -- a light-filled store at 30 Howard Street artfully imagined by creative director Raf Simons. The space, over 6,000 sq. ft., takes up two storeys and is full of marble, mirrors, and steel. The dressing rooms and reflective panels can be moved and adjusted, giving the store and Simons endless possibilities. --PHOTOS BY HANUK

More photos from the event >>

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The Paolo Roversi: Guinevere show at Pace/MacGill gallery was just extended through June 27. Originally set to close Saturday, the exhibit focuses solely on Roversi's sultry shots of model Guinevere van Seenus, showcasing her versatility as a subject. The two met 12 years ago when van Seenus, now 30, walked into Roversi's studio for a go-see, and they have been creating photographs together ever since. Roversi has tentative plans to do a book on the model, but since that may take years, see Guinevere in all her glory now at Pace/MacGill. --Jade Anderson

Slideshow: Paolo Roversi: Guinevere

32 East 57th Street, 9th floor, New York, NY
212-759-7999, pacemacgill.com

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This may be literature's second most important haircut (Samson probably wins first). Those graphic designers at Little, Brown gave the top of J.D. Salinger's head a close shave when cropping the photo on the dust jacket of the first copies of Catcher. Once the second printing rolled out, they gave him a little extra white space at the top. The difference today: thousands of dollars. This 1951 First Edition, First Printing is estimated to go for $2,500 to $3,500. You can place absentee bids for the June 12 auction now. --HOLLISTER H. HOVEY

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People go through hoops to get into restaurants -- you can buy reservations online, for crying out loud.  But they rarely commit to a dish before going out to eat, or even know that in certain cases you must stake your claim for a restaurant's more elaborate offerings.  If you're worried that you might not be in the mood for a certain dish, rest assured that some specialties restore your faith after one bite.

That's the case at Le Bernardin, the legendary fish restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, where they serve a baked red snapper for two people that must be ordered 24 hours in advance.  The kitchen, under the masterly direction of Eric Ripert, needs the notice to make sure their supplier in Florida can catch and set aside an entire fish just for you.  Ripert says they prepare about a dozen a week, mostly for regulars who are familiar with the menu and keenly aware of the glories of the dish.

It's worth the planning.  At first, you can't even see the fish beneath a case of rosemary and thyme salt that's about the size of a rugby ball.  It returns to the kitchen to be filleted and finished at the table with a little olive oil. When you finally taste it, it's lighter than light.  Have it with a glass of Chablis, and you've got a meal of sublime simplicity. --DAVID COGGINS

Le Bernardin
155 West 51st Street
New York City
212-554-1515

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(Repentance)

For the second month in a row, the 18th century Spanish artist Francisco Goya has made headlines. In April, the Prado Museum in Madrid pulled one of his most recognizable masterpieces, El Coloso, from a collection due to fears about its provenance. That scandalous debate, however, has been overshadowed by news that three sketches by the artist have been rediscovered after 130 years and will be up for sale at Christie's in London on July 8.

The sketches had been considered lost since an auction in Paris in 1877, and their authenticity is unquestioned since they are still on the mounts made for that auction. Having never been framed or exposed to much light, the sketches are in excellent condition, and Christie's expects them to fetch a total of $4 million. The price, Goya scholar Dr. Sarah Symmons notes, reflects how Goya's art "really seems to speak to the 21st century." Members of the Swiss family who brought the sketches to Christie's say they had no idea the artwork was lost and don't know how the sketches came into their family's possession.

Goya, who lived from 1746 to 1828, is most known for his gruesome depictions of war, specifically the Napoleonic invasions. His portrayals of humanity's most callous -- and, conversely, vulnerable -- dispositions are considered unparalleled. These newly found sketches are no exception. Dr. Symmons says that the three sketches "date from the artist's mature years, and that means they are especially idiosyncratic, personal, and episodic."

Down They Come shows four women falling through the air with one grinning and clawing at another who screams out in pain. Another sketch tells the story of Lampinos, an unjust constable who finds himself stitched inside a dead horse after peasants seek revenge against him. According to Goya's handwritten explanation of the drawing, Lampinos lived for a full night inside the horse's carcass, surrounded by dogs.

The sketches elicit both repugnance and empathy, anxiety and pity from the viewer. Benjamin Peronnet, Christie's director and international head of Old Master and 19th century drawings, says they each "illustrate to perfection the inexhaustible fertility of Goya's imagination, and the creativity and flair that see him recognized as arguably the first modern artist." One hundred and eighty years after Goya's death, his themes -- vengeance, guilt, and violence -- still strike a chord in viewers' hearts, not to mention bidders' wallets. -- CHLOE KAMARCK

(Down They Come)

(Lampinos)

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(Image via bigapplebbq.org)

New Yorkers can be forgiven for assuming they live at the nexus of the culinary world. However untrue that fact may be, it seems like there isn't a cuisine on earth that's unrepresented, and barbeque -- not traditionally within the purview of Yankees -- is no exception. But while diners may think they can get their hands dirty and arteries clogged with just about any variety of smoked, grilled, or charred meats round these parts, strolling into this weekend's 6th Annual Snapple Big Apple BBQ Block Party in Madison Square Park will feel something like performing a quintuple bypass after watching Scrubs. Like a miniature, highly caloric Olympics, 14 pit masters from across the country will flaunt their regional specialties, offering up gut-busting $8 plates of beef or pork doused in vinegar, ketchup, and even mustard-based sauces, thanks to a South Carolinian contestant. (In deference to the Big Apple's even bigger ego, no fewer than four hometown heroes will take the field.)

On breaks between portions, pick up some crawfish, hushpuppies and smores, catch seminars and discussions with Jeffrey Steingarten, Calvin Trillin, and other panelists, and enjoy the Eli "Paper Boy" Reed or a grab-bag of other bands while your food coma takes hold. If it all seems too perfect, lines will be, inevitably, long and temperatures should hover around 90. But anything worth having is worth fighting for. --NICHOLAS MOSQUERA

The list below from bigapplebbq.org:

Ken Callaghan, Blue Smoke, New York, NY
Kansas City Ribs & Pickles

Jonathan Burrows, Mr. Cecil's, Los Angeles, CA (New!)
Beef Ribs & Cucumber, Tomato Salad

Pete Daversa, Hill Country, New York, NY
Beef Ribs & Beans

Joe Duncan, Baker's Ribs, Dallas, TX
Beef Brisket & Coleslaw

Tommy Houston, Checkered Pig, Martinsville, VA (New!)
Chopped Pork Sandwich & Coleslaw

Jimmy Hagood, BlackJack BBQ, Charleston, SC
Pulled Pork Shoulder & Coleslaw

Chris Lilly, Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Decatur, AL
Pulled Pork Shoulder & Beans

Mike Mills, 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, IL & Memphis Championship Barbecue, Las Vegas, NV
Baby Back Ribs & Beans

Ed Mitchell, The Pit, Raleigh, NC
Whole Hog & Coleslaw

Garry Roark, Ubon's "Champion's Choice," Yazoo, MS
Pulled Pork Shoulder & Coleslaw

Michael Rodriguez, The Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, TX
Beef Brisket, Sausage & Coleslaw

John Stage, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, New York, NY
Pulled Pork Shoulder & Beans

John Wheeler, Rack & Soul, New York, NY
Baby Back Ribs & Beans

Ed Wilson, Wilson's Barbeque, Fairfield, CT (New!)
Texas Style Brisket & Coleslaw

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The beautiful and the powerful gathered in Paris today for the funeral of the legendary couturier Yves Saint Laurent, who died of a brain tumor June 1. Saint Laurent, who was 71, was widely recognized as one of the most influential fashion designers of the last 50 years. He brought the world of high art to fashion with collections inspired by Mondrian and Picasso, and yet he was also known for effortlessly incorporating styles from the street. He was one of the first designers to put women into pants, and many at his funeral, including France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy -- who modeled for Saint Laurent before she married into politics -- wore black trousers in homage to this legendary designer. --BEN POPPER

Yves with one of his closest friends and customers, Catherine Deneuve

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