“Give my liver to science and my heart to the Plaza.”
That’s a quote attributed by Hemingway to his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, perhaps over a drink in the Oak Room Bar, which is one of our favorite spots in NYC too. And we haven’t been there since the Plaza was closed in 2004. Well this week we got a guided tour of the new Plaza, led by Francis Morrone who an architectural historian, NYC architectural tour guide, author, and a professor at NYU. Francis was actually asked by the current Plaza owners to lead these tours after he wrote a wonderful article about the restoration, shortly after the Plaza’s reopening, in the now defunct New York Sun .
Our tour guide, Francis Morrone
This terrific one hour tour starts on the new lower level concourse, which has very high end retail shops, all empty we might add. This level used to house Trader Vics, but was closed by Donald Trump when he briefly owned the Plaza, because it was too “tacky”. (Who knew that word was even in his vocabulary?) But the best part of the lower level, and alone worth a visit to the Plaza, is Vienna’s famed Demel Bakery, its first USA store, where you can delight in their amazing desserts over a cappuccino or a glass of wine.
When you enter the Plaza from Fifth Avenue, the only public entrance now, the first thing you will notice that’s different is the large and beautiful lobby on the left. That’s because for many years it was closed off and used for storage. But before that, in the days of NYC’s famed nightclubs, it was home of the Persian Room where Kay Thompson often performed. Kay is also the author of the famous Eloise books, and a fabulous portrait of Eliose now graces one of the main hallways too. (And by the way, if you want to know what the Persian Room was like then, we’ve posted a terrific clip of a Kay Thomspon’s performance in that very room at 3T.TV.
The other thing you will notice is the splendor of the Palm Court, which looks much the same but so much better. The reason? The new owners restored the “skylight” which had been covered over when Conrad Hilton owned the hotel in the 1940s to install air conditioning. It is spectacular. The Palm Court is expected to re-open in the next couple of months. Tea anyone?
We even got to tour the room that was originally the “Men’s Grill” and most recently was the short lived restaurant, One Central Park. It is still undetermined what that room will be become, but we hope it’s something as special as the room deserves.
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The Glorious Restored Plaza Hotel
Tour starts at the Plaza Boutique
Pastries and wine at Demel
The old Persian Room is the new lobby.
The "skylight" which is actually a "lay-light" in the restored Palm Court
The "men's grill"
We even got to view the 59th Street side lobby of the Plaza, which is now the lobby of the private condo residences and not opened to the general public. We ended the tour with a look at the beautifully restored Oak Room, again, the same, but better, and then the best part! We ended our tour and adjourned for a martini at the Oak Bar. We could feel the ghosts of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Presidents, the Beatles and so many others who have graced the Plaza. Cheers!
How to book a FREE tour: Tours are Tuesday and Saturday at 3PM. You must reserve by calling: 212-588-8012.
The Oak Room, never so lovely
