Sure, I am an Angeleno, strong and proud. But I am also a relocated New Yorker, one who goes to the Big Apple as much as possible. Always have done since I moved to this neck of the woods a long, long time ago.
One particular time when I was little more than a novice journalist around 30 plus years ago I thought I had really arrived back in this publishing capital. That exact moment happened when I was escorted to a table at the famed Algonquin Hotel's lobby lounge to meet with Brendan Gill of The New Yorker.
Sadly, that special feeling didn't last long.
My husband, a huge fan of the late theater critic, was along for the privilege, waiting for me to ask Mr. Gill if it was OK if he joined us. While working up to that somewhat uncomfortable query, out of the corner of my eye I notice the man I once married taking part in an extremely animated conversation with the hotel maitre'd. After a lot of back and forth, my mate unhappily took a jacket the restaurateur was carrying and sullenly put it on.
And boy was it a very sheepish spouse wearing a very sartorially lacking dinner jacket three sizes too big that sat down with Brendan Gill. Brendan Gill and me. Sadly, I barely remember even tiny bits of what would have been a seminal conversation as I was well and truly mortified by what had transpired before we started to chat.
But why all the fuss?
Well, back then, it was tradition that men wear at least a sports jacket in order to have discourse--or any course--in the venerable lobby lounge, the famous Round Table Room or even in any of the Algonquin's other storied food and drink venues.
These day this property seems to be more lax on that fashion requirement. In fact, a call to the Manhattan hotel produced a "It's OK not to wear a jacket in our dining rooms, especially until the fall through to the early spring."
This from an assertive female voice at the other end of the line. However, when pressing the issue by asking if this was a change from previous protocol, she said, "Just so long as a person is neatly dressed..."
That is a moot point as fall turns to winder but what she said pushed my mind back to that (fatal?) first visit. I doubt I will ever forget my initial meeting at and with the venerable Algonquin, a hotel every writer I know wants to experience at least once in his or her lifetime.
Given that statement, I want a do-over. Pretty please with a jacket on top?
For other Angelenos (including all writers) wanting to visit New York and The Algonquin, check flights with www.kayak.com and go to your travel agent for helping booking the hotel.
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