Yves Picot said the soupe a l'oignon remains the restaurant's best seller.

WSJ: Onion Soup and Old New York

In 1916, French and British diplomats secretly reached the Sykes-Picot agreement, carving up the Middle East into spheres of influence for their respective countries.

NPR: The Middle East and the West: WWI and Beyond

On one of those visits, I was joined by Mr. Picot, who, though he's turned over the reins to his son Yves, remains a daily presence.

WSJ: Onion Soup and Old New York

My first question was about how the restaurant had survived for so long, Mr. Picot explaining that it was a combination of attention to quality and lucky real-estate karma.

WSJ: Onion Soup and Old New York

His aspirations foundered on the rocks of British and French colonial ambition, notably the twin reefs of the notorious Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

ECONOMIST: Lawrence of Arabia

Yves Picot has other, fonder memories from those days.

WSJ: Onion Soup and Old New York

"The Assault, or Fencing Match, which took place at Carlton House on the 9th of April 1787" is an engraving (c. 1787) by the Frenchman Victor Marie Picot (after Charles Jean Robineau) that depicts a confrontation between the Chevalier d'Eon (dressed as a woman) and one of his African slaves.

WSJ: Caribbean: Crossroads of the World | Tropical Ambition | By Tom L. Freudenheim

From God's covenant with Abraham to his promise to Muhammad, from the Balfour Declaration to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, from Israel's War of Independence to the Nakba, which is the Arabic term for "catastrophe" commonly used for Israel's birth, the role of history as narrative resonates deeply among both Arabs and Jews.

NPR: Historian Robert Satloff