Lunching at The Algonquin

At the Gonk with our waiters Chuck and George

It Seems to Me . . . was the byline of Heywood Broun’s
column in The World

The famous Algonquin Hotel has undergone a renovation since purchased by the Marriott Hotels last year.  And aside from the poor choice of glitzy 1980’s style sconces and chandeliers around the Edwardian lobby–thank God, they didn’t paint the glorious dark oak  paneling and stately columns white!–,  and in spite of the addition of a “Breakfast Nook”  in the space that was once the historic Oak Room, and the Blue Bar all snazzed-up with, ah, blue lights–it looks great, really, the dining room’s food and service was exemplary.  In other words, last Thursday, when once again my High School of Performing Arts Graduating Class of, gulp, “67,  met for our tri-annual luncheon in the Round Table Room off the hotel lobby, we had a grand time!  In spite of the fact that most of us lingered for more than six hours, nursing our pricey cocktails after lunch, we were treated like royalty by the staff.  Our waiters, 30 year veteran, Chuck, and former thespian, George, were terrific, friendly and patient.

There is something wonderful about the place.  The furniture has been replaced, as has the carpeting, but the lobby and restaurant still retain the ambiance, the warmth, we have come to love.  No more the feline Matilda holding court in the lobby, thanks to the misguided rules of the Health Department, but all good things must pass, I suppose. . . . .  Matilda, the tenth or eleventh generation of the original cat who wandered into the lobby some time during the 1930s,  is now relegated to prowling the upper regions of the hotel.  She was not very social on our visit.  At least, on a search, Jane couldn’t find her.

So, Shelley and I played around with possible names for our luncheon parties, names relating to the Parker-Benchley-Woollcott  Round Table years: