NEW YORK (AP) — The Rainbow Room reopened Sunday in its historic perch atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza after a five-year absence from the New York City skyline.
“It’s breathtaking,” guest Jamie Greenwald, one of more than 200 brunch guests who took in the sweeping views outside and the significant improvements inside the 80-year-old establishment whose floors have been walked across by Cole Porter, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, Barbra Streisand and Muhammad Ali.
Herb roasted Amish chicken, oysters, shrimp, honeybaked Benton ham, Yorkshire pudding and chicken and black truffle pot pies were among dozens of delicacies awaiting the luncheon crowd in a spread created by Executive Chef Jonathan Wright.
“It’s like opening night!” Keith Douglas, a managing director of the real estate company Tishman Speyer — Rockefeller Center’s owner and manager — gushed as dozens of workers rushed about, putting finishing touches on the refurbished venue an hour before guests began arriving.
The sunny clear blue sky offered no chance for rainbows this day through windows that were enlarged by as much as 25 percent during an extensive renovation designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates.
