Russian Tea Room

The Russian Tea Room is an Art Deco Russo-Continental restaurant, located at 150 West 57th Street (between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue), between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower, in the New York City borough of Manhattan.[1]

Russian Tea Room
Entry to the Russian Tea Room in 2008
Restaurant information
Established	1927
Food type	Russo-Continental
Street address	150 West 57th Street
City	New York City
County	New York
State	New York
Postal/ZIP Code	10019
Coordinates	40°45′54″N 73°58′46″W

History

The Russian Tea Room was opened in 1927, by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, as a gathering place for Russian expatriates and became famous as a gathering place for those in the entertainment industry. The founder is often considered to be Polish-born Jacob Zysman, but in that year, a corporation directory lists Albertina Rasch as the president, and her name appears along with Russian Art Chocolate and Russian Tea Room, in early photographs of the shopfront at 145 W. 57th St. In 1929, the business moved across the street to its present location, which at that time was an Italianate brownstone, built in 1875 by German immigrant John F. Pupke, a tea and coffee merchant, whose son later moved the large clan to Long Island, seeking a more relaxed lifestyle.

By 1933, the Siberian émigré Alexander Maeef was running the Russian Tea Room and was the main personality associated with the restaurant for the next fifteen years.

In 1955, the restaurant was purchased by Sidney Kaye, who, in 1967, left the restaurant to his widow, Faith Stewart-Gordon.

Facade

In 1981, Harry B. Macklowe, the developer of the Metropolitan Tower immediately to the east, planned a large office tower that would have included the sites of the current Metropolitan Tower, Russian Tea Room, and Carnegie Hall Tower immediately to the west. Macklowe was able to make an agreement with Carnegie Hall, which owned the Carnegie Hall Tower lot, but Stewart-Gordon, who owned the lot dividing the project, refused any offer to sell the lot. Macklowe also offered to buy the air rights only and to give room for her restaurant inside the new tower building, but Stewart-Gordon declined. During the planning of the Carnegie Hall Tower, again Stewart-Gordon declined to sell its site or its air rights. The result is the narrow twenty-foot gap, separating the Metropolitan and Carnegie Hall Towers.

In December 1996, Warner LeRoy, who owned Tavern on the Green, bought the restaurant from Stewart-Gordon for $6.5 million and closed it down, much to the despair of New York high society.[2] After four years and $36 million in renovations, it reopened, but it was never the same; it closed with little notice on Sunday, July 28, 2002, after declaring bankruptcy. LeRoy's health was failing. Also, the local economy did not recover quickly enough to make payments on the substantial loans for the renovations.[2][3]

After Warner LeRoy died in 2001, his estate sold the property for $16 million to the United States Golf Association in December 2002. The Association had planned to reconfigure the property as a dining room and museum in which to showcase its extensive collection of golf memorabilia, but instead sold the building in 2004 to Sheila Vanderbilt's RTR Funding Group.[4][5] The 20-foot-wide building extends from 57th Street (the restaurant's main entrance) to 56th Street. The plans are to replace some of the current building facing 56th Street with a 29-story condominium, which is to be designed by Costas Kondylis. The original restaurant will be kept undisturbed.

The Russian Tea Room reopened on November 1, 2006. The restaurant's interior has not been touched, and the over-the-top decor is the same as when it closed in 2002.[6][7] However, several restaurant reviews have noted that the food and service leave significant room for improvement.[8][9]

Noted guests

The Russian Tea Room was a favored dining place of, among other notables, Ayn Rand and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz. Other noted guests include:

Woody Allen [10] Rowan Atkinson Anne Bancroft [11] Tallulah Bankhead [12] Noel Behn [13] Victor Borge [14] Lucrezia Bori [15] Mel Brooks [11] Mischa Elman [15] Kirsten Flagstad [15] Ossip Gabrilowitsch [15] Jascha Heifetz [15] Wanda Toscanini Horowitz Lou Jacobi [10] Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis [16] Henry Kissinger [17] Fritz Kreisler [15] Rudolf Nureyev Rosa Ponselle [15] Anthony Quayle [18]

William Saroyan [19] Arthur Rubinstein [20] George Segal [21] Alan Schneider [22] Leopold Stokowski [15] Barbra Streisand [21] Richard Suskind [23] Peter Ustinov [18] Mitchell A. Wilson [24]

In popular culture

Interior of the Russian Tea Room in November 2009

Artworks

• It is depicted in a painting by Beryl Cook.

Notable employees and events

• British comedian Rowan Atkinson married Sunetra Sastry there in 1990, having met her there that year on February 5.
• In 1979, Madonna worked there, as a coat-check clerk.[25]

Films

• Scenes from Sweet Smell of Success, Manhattan, When Harry Met Sally..., Big, The Turning Point, Smurfs, Tootsie, New York Stories, and The Extra Man were filmed at the restaurant.

Literature

• It is mentioned in Joyce Elbert's novel Crazy Ladies.
• It is featured in Eve Babitz's Sex and Rage as a place where literary agents take authors out to lunch.
• It is mentioned in Jay McInerney's novel Bright Lights, Big City.[26]

Television

• "The Wrath of Con" episode of Gossip Girl was filmed there.
• The "Dad" episode of Louie was filmed there, and in season 3 Louie meets his Uncle Excelsior there for lunch
• In 1995, it was shown in The Nanny season 3 episode "Pen Pal".
• It is used as a setting in the 2016-2017 season of Saturday Night Live's intro, introducing Aidy Bryant in the scene.

See also

• List of restaurants in New York City
• List of Russian restaurants

References

1. "The Russian Tea Room, New York". Zagat. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
2. Kopp, Carol (November 2, 2006). "Famed Russian Tea Room Reopens". CBS News. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
3. Collins, Glenn (July 27, 2002). "Russian Tea Room to Close After Tomorrow's Dinner". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
4. "Golf museum planned for New York". Golf Today. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
5. "Tea, teeing off not a perfect match". Chicago Tribune. June 22, 2003. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
6. Kilian, Cynthia (October 30, 2006). "'Russian' Back, Famed Tea Room Set to Reopen". New York Post. Archived from the original on November 14, 2006.
7. Dobnik, Verena (November 2, 2006). "Russian Tea Room Is Back – for 3rd Time". Fox News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014.
8. Bruni, Frank (December 20, 2006). "Tastes of Russia, but One Without Borders". The New york Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2007.
9. Platt, Adam (January 7, 2007). "The New Russia: The latest incarnation of the Russian Tea Room evokes gilded old New York, but the food and service lack polish". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012.
10. Lyons, Leonard (May 31, 1967). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
11. Lyons, Leonard (January 6, 1966). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
12. Kilgallon, Dorothy (October 3, 1952). "The Voice of Broadway". The Oneonta Star. Oneonta. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
13. https://nytimes.com, Noel Behn, 70, Novelist, Producer and Screenwriter, July 31, 1998, retrieved December 31, 2008
14. Christy, Marian (December 29, 1971). "Hats Change Image of Victor Borge". The Troy Record. Troy. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
15. "Celebrity Centers". Dunkirk Evening Observer. New York. November 9, 1936. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
16. Lyons, Leonard (November 2, 1971). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
17. Lyons, Leonard (June 21, 1971). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
18. Lyons, Leonard (October 3, 1966). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
19. Stevenson, L. L. (February 5, 1943). "Manhattan Days and Nights". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
20. Lyons, Leonard (March 7, 1967). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
21. Lyons, Leonard (April 16, 1970). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
22. Lyons, Leonard (January 28, 1970). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
23. Lyons, Leonard (November 25, 1972). "Big Town Roundup". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
24. Lyons, Leonard (December 22, 1969). "Lyons Den". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
25. "Madonna Offered A Party At The New York Landmark Where She Started Out". showbizspy.com. August 15, 2008. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.
26. McInerney, Jay (1984). Bright Lights, Big City. Google Books. Vintage Books. p. 147. ISBN 9780307763211. Retrieved September 9, 2019. “Let’s have lunch. Bat some ideas around. Say, Russian Tea Room at one-thirty?”

Further reading

• Stewart-Gordon, Faith (1981). The Russian Tea Room Cookbook. New York: Richard Marek Publishers. ISBN 0-399-90128-0.
• Stewart-Gordon, Faith (1993). The Russian Tea Room: A Tasting. New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 0-517-58826-9.
• Stewart-Gordon, Faith (1999). The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-85981-5.

External links

• Official website
• "Recreating the Sizzle, Going Easy on the Butter", The New York Times, October 22, 2006
• Fabricant, Florence, "Tea Room Coming Back", The New York Times, October 4, 2006
• "The Russian Tea Room: Sweet Deals Fail to Tempt", The New York Times, September 11, 1988