The Russian Tea Room is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

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 New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

History

The Russian Tea Room was opened in 1927, by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, as a gathering place for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n 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 Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

, but in that year, a corporation directory lists

Albertina Rasch Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was a naturalized American dancer, company director, and choreographer. Early life Rasch was born in 1891 (although she would later shave five years off her age), in Vienna (in what was ...

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 The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

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

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

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. RussianTeaRoomNYC

In 1981, Harry B. Macklowe, the developer of 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. If the three sites were combined, this could allow a 51-story tower with . Macklowe had offered Stewart-Gordon $12.5 million for the building's air rights in 1982. However, Stewart-Gordon refused several offers to acquire her building, so Macklowe withdrew his bid for the Carnegie Hall Tower site in 1983. Though Stewart-Gordon subsequently considered selling the restaurant building, she ended up not selling the building or its air rights to Carnegie Hall Tower's developers. As a result, Metropolitan Tower and Carnegie Hall Tower are only separated by the Russian Tea Room, which is wide. In December 1996, Warner LeRoy, who owned

Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been o ...

, bought the restaurant from Stewart-Gordon for $6.5 million and closed it down, much to the despair of New York

high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

. 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. After Warner LeRoy died in 2001, his estate sold the property for $16 million to the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

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. 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. However, several restaurant reviews have noted that the food and service leave significant room for improvement.

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: * Rowan Atkinson *

Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two ...

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

* Noel Behn * Victor Borge * Lucrezia Bori * Mel Brooks * Prince Charles * Mischa Elman *

Kirsten Flagstad Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casa ...

Ossip Gabrilowitsch Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch (Осип Сoломонович Габрилович, ''Osip Solomonovich Gabrilovich''; he used the German transliteration ''Gabrilowitsch'' in the West) (14 September 1936) was a Russian-born American pianist, ...

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

* Wanda Toscanini Horowitz * Lou Jacobi * Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

* Fritz Kreisler * Rudolf Nureyev *

Rosa Ponselle Rosa Melba Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic soprano. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20t ...

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

* William Saroyan * Arthur Rubinstein * George Segal * Alan Schneider * Ringo Starr *

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

* Richard Suskind * Peter Ustinov * Mitchell A. Wilson

In popular culture

Artworks

* It is depicted in a painting by

Beryl Cook Beryl Cook, OBE (10 September 192628 May 2008) was a British artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings. Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying th ...

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.

Films

* Scenes from ''

Sweet Smell of Success ''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick fr ...

'', ''

'', '' When Harry Met Sally...'', ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

'', '' The Turning Point'', ''

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...

'', '' Tootsie'', ''

New York Stories ''New York Stories'' is a 1989 American anthology film consisting of three segments with the central theme being New York City. The first is ''Life Lessons'', directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The s ...

'', '' Unfaithfully Yours'', and '' The Extra Man'' were filmed at the restaurant.

Literature

*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''.

Television

The One Where the Monkey Gets Away "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away" is the nineteenth episode of '' Friends'' first season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on March 9, 1995. Plot Rachel finds out that her ex-fiancé, Barry, is engaged to marry Mindy, th ...

" and "The One With the Evil Orthodontist" episodes of '' Friends'' mentions it numerous times. *"The Wrath of Con" episode of ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'' 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 ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'' season 3 episode "Pen Pal". * It is used as a setting in the 2016-2017 season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''s intro, introducing

Aidy Bryant Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...

in the scene. * In 2002, it was shown in the background of a scene in the season 1 episode "Tuxedo Hill" of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''.

References

External links

Official website

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', October 22, 2006 * Fabricant, Florence
"Tea Room Coming Back"
''The New York Times'', October 4, 2006

''The New York Times'', September 11, 1988 {{Authority control Restaurants in Manhattan 1927 establishments in New York City Russian-American culture in New York City Russian restaurants in the United States Restaurants established in 1927 57th Street (Manhattan) Midtown Manhattan