The Oak Room at The Plaza: Mighty Mixture by Gary Stevens

Richard Zampella Managed The Oak Room at The Plaza Hotel in the late 1990s

TRADITION UPHELD:

For many generations, The Plaza has had a restaurant to boast about The Oak Room, constructed with dark wood has always resembled a vast dining room in an English castle with a facsimile somewhere around London town in a private club. That distinction has merited all kinds of upper class people. Be they bankers from Park Avenue, visitors from wealthy midwestern families. Continental travelers from Paris or Saudi Arabia, and chic New Yorkers who revel in the special kind of atmosphere that The Plaza’s Oak Room offers.

Dining here, if you have a healthy imagination, can suggest an exalted New York past. Nothing has changed. It remains dignified and imposing. Richard Zampella, a friendly young man in charge, greets you at the door and is wonderfully cooperative in suggesting dishes and keeping tabs on service. Very good Lobster Bisque, I tried. And the Grilled Salmon was tender and prepared. The prix fixe dinner is a lure for theatergoers and is well worth ordering. During the evening, a fixture here for ll years, give an arpeggio or two, is Michael Roberts, a talented pianist, who plays something for everyone. Pinpointing Michael & Richard. The Oak Room is in good hands. The Plaza is very easy to find. Fifth Avenue and Central Park South. It may be the best address in the world.

Reprinted from Mighty Mixture -- Gary Stevens -- Aug. 1999