As many of you know, it’s currently Restaurant Week in New York City. It began January 16 and will run to February 10. I enjoyed writing the history of the haunted restaurants so much that I thought I would add to your enjoyment of Restaurant Week by picking a few historically important restaurants participating and telling you about them.
One famous and historic restaurant participating in Restaurant Week is the Russian Tea Room. It’s located on West 57th Street in Midtown. The restaurant opened in 1927 by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet. The original location was across the street on 57th Street from its current location. It moved across the street in 1929. The building it moved into was a brownstone built in 1875 by a German immigrant. The restaurant closed for a short time in 2002 but reopened in 2006 with the same over the top décor to enjoy. Many iconic New York movies also filmed scenes in the restaurant including Manhattan, When Harry Met Sally, and Tootsie.
The 21 Club is another participating restaurant located on West 52nd Street. Since opening in 1922 the club has had many locations and many names. The club originally opened as a speakeasy called the Red Head in 1922 in a Greenwich Village location by cousins Jack Kreindler and Charlie Berns. In 1925 it moved to a Washington Place basement and became known as Fronton. In 1926 it moved yet again, this time to 49th Street and changed its name to the Puncheon Club. Finally, in 1929, the club moved to its current location and became known as Jack and Charlie’s 21. The club was raided many times during prohibition by the two cousins were never caught. The bar has a system of levers that would clear the bar of liquor bottles during a raid as well as a secret wine cellar.
Finally, go ahead and take advantage of Restaurant Week by enjoying a sandwich at Carnegie Deli. This New York favorite, also located in the West 50’s, opened in 1937 adjacent to Carnegie Hall. It’s known for its gargantuan sandwiches on other Jewish deli fare. The deli was a favorite hangout of comedian Henny Youngman and a reference to the deli was made in Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song.” Woody Allen used the deli as a filming location for Broadway Danny Rose and was rewarded with getting a sandwich named after him.
So when deciding which restaurants to frequent during the remainder of Restaurant Week consider adding some historical flavor to your dinner with one of these three New York restaurant icons.
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