SPAGo 98
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- Jan 19, 2000
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you will always be a part of NYC.
Russian Tea Room Serves Its Last Meal
At 75, ornate Manhattan restaurant shuts its doors
By Mae M. Cheng and Simone Weichselbaum
STAFF WRITERS
July 29, 2002
With the kind of of fanfare that its lavish decor exudes, hundreds of New Yorkers and tourists alike turned out last night to say goodbye to the opulent 75-year-old Russian Tea Room.
Dinner reservations at the storied Manhattan dining spot were completely booked, leaving customers to jockey at the bar for their last plates of borscht and $70 dishes of caviar .
After decades of playing host to actors, musicians and other celebrities, the Russian Tea Room was set to shut down after the last of the dinner meals were served yesterday.
Despite a three-year, $30-million renovation preceding its reopening in 1999, the restaurant failed to weather the recent economic slowdown.
"We're sorry it's closing," said Josephine Priolo, 69, of Staten Island, who enjoyed a meal with her husband, Joseph, in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.
The eatery was opened in 1926 by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet and served as a tea room for Russian immigrants during Prohibition.
In the 1950s, a former high school chemistry teacher, Stanley Kaye, bought the restaurant. Upon his death, the 57th Street eatery was run by his wife, Faith Stewart-Gordon who took the opportunity to point out in whimsical radio ads that the restaurant was "23 minutes from Lincoln Center and slightly to the left of Carnegie Hall."
In 1995, Stewart-Gordon sold the restaurant to flamboyant Manhattan restaurateur Warner LeRoy for an undisclosed amount. LeRoy, who already had a history of operating over-the-top eateries like the former Maxwell's Plum and Tavern on the Green, closed the Russian Tea Room for three years as he injected it with $30-million worth of renovations. When the restaurant reopened in 1999, the public was treated to a 15-foot bear-shaped aquarium stocked with baby sturgeon, a three-dimensional diorama of Russian cities and limitless stretches of glitter and colored glass.
When LeRoy died last year, he left the restaurant to his daughter, Jennifer LeRoy. It was she who alerted staff on Friday that the restaurant would be closing.
"In the last few days, New Yorkers have come to say their goodbyes to something they treasure," said Michael Desiderio, the restaurant's general manager.
Russian Tea Room Serves Its Last Meal
At 75, ornate Manhattan restaurant shuts its doors
By Mae M. Cheng and Simone Weichselbaum
STAFF WRITERS
July 29, 2002
With the kind of of fanfare that its lavish decor exudes, hundreds of New Yorkers and tourists alike turned out last night to say goodbye to the opulent 75-year-old Russian Tea Room.
Dinner reservations at the storied Manhattan dining spot were completely booked, leaving customers to jockey at the bar for their last plates of borscht and $70 dishes of caviar .
After decades of playing host to actors, musicians and other celebrities, the Russian Tea Room was set to shut down after the last of the dinner meals were served yesterday.
Despite a three-year, $30-million renovation preceding its reopening in 1999, the restaurant failed to weather the recent economic slowdown.
"We're sorry it's closing," said Josephine Priolo, 69, of Staten Island, who enjoyed a meal with her husband, Joseph, in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.
The eatery was opened in 1926 by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet and served as a tea room for Russian immigrants during Prohibition.
In the 1950s, a former high school chemistry teacher, Stanley Kaye, bought the restaurant. Upon his death, the 57th Street eatery was run by his wife, Faith Stewart-Gordon who took the opportunity to point out in whimsical radio ads that the restaurant was "23 minutes from Lincoln Center and slightly to the left of Carnegie Hall."
In 1995, Stewart-Gordon sold the restaurant to flamboyant Manhattan restaurateur Warner LeRoy for an undisclosed amount. LeRoy, who already had a history of operating over-the-top eateries like the former Maxwell's Plum and Tavern on the Green, closed the Russian Tea Room for three years as he injected it with $30-million worth of renovations. When the restaurant reopened in 1999, the public was treated to a 15-foot bear-shaped aquarium stocked with baby sturgeon, a three-dimensional diorama of Russian cities and limitless stretches of glitter and colored glass.
When LeRoy died last year, he left the restaurant to his daughter, Jennifer LeRoy. It was she who alerted staff on Friday that the restaurant would be closing.
"In the last few days, New Yorkers have come to say their goodbyes to something they treasure," said Michael Desiderio, the restaurant's general manager.
.....Great Place! I'd have the good fortune to go there 5-6 times....a true landmark....that's sad.
