New York City’s landmarked Hotel des Artistes, located at 1 West 67th Street, just steps from Central Park, celebrated its centennial, with an enchanting evening of art, music, dance and food, held exclusively for the residents of the famous building on Sunday, June 4th, 2017.
Dancers performed Isadora Duncan’s works from the era in historic spaces throughout the building, to the music of Chopin, Debussy and Rachmaninov. The performances, held in some of the building’s remarkable apartments, the beautiful lobby, and in the building’s underground pool, concluded with a reception and a toast to the building in The Leopard at des Artistes – the acclaimed southern Italian restaurant located just off the lobby. The reception in the restaurant featured Executive Chef Vito Gnazzo’s authentic southern Italian cuisine and signature Jazz Age cocktails!
HOTEL DES ARTISTES: ARTIST RESIDENCE
One of the city’s most famous and illustrious buildings, the Hotel Des Artistes is the largest “studio” building in the city, and was designed as an artist’s cooperative apartment building. The 18-story building originally had 115 apartments, now converted into 65 private residences. It is one of several such “studio” buildings on the block between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue designed by George Mort Pollard, in 1918. The building was developed by Walter Russell several years after a group of artists that included famed Impressionist Childe Hassam, built a “studio” building at 27 West 67th Street. The base of the building’s façade is decorated with many figures of artists and many of the apartments have English Renaissance style paneling, beamed ceilings and fireplaces.
Among the building’s many famous residents have been Isadora Duncan, the dancer; The Isadorables – Isadora Duncan’s students and adopted daughters – also performed in one of the building’s spaces dedicated for public performances. Other notable residents include Noel Coward, the playwright, silent film star Rudolph Valentino, writer Fannie Hurst, who had a very large triplex penthouse, New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay, writer Alexander Woollcott, and Norman Rockwell, the artist. Despite its name, the building was never a hotel although its amenities were and are very impressive.
Many events were held in the building that first year. A testimonial dinner in November honored The Vigilantes – a syndicate that published pamphlets and newspapers with the intention of inspiring patriotism and Allied involvement in World War I. The event reflected the events of a momentous year – Czar Nicholas had abdicated in March. The United States joined the Allies and entered the war in April, and in a second revolution in the fall of 1917, a Communist state was established in Russia.
That year, when the building opened, the Café des Artistes was founded for the residents. In addition to the restaurants, because the new apartments were intentionally built without kitchens, dumbwaiters in each apartment brought up meals prepared by the building’s chef. The restaurant’s famous murals, painted by Howard Chandler Christy, the famous American artist and illustrator who also painted “Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States” that hangs in the US Capitol, was completed in the mid-1930s. Christy was also a tenant of the building until his death in 1952. The panels of wood nymphs include paintings such as The Parrot Girl, The Swing Girl, Ponce De Leon, Fall, Spring, and the Fountain of Youth.
CAFÉ DES ARTISTES: GEORGE LANG & FRENCH CUISINE
In 1975 the media consultant David Garth, a board member, asked George Lang to take over the ground-floor restaurant. Mr. Lang, who escaped World War II from Hungary went on to transform Café des Artistes into one of New York’s most legendary restaurants of all time. His formula proved to be an enduring hit with performers at Lincoln Center and a long list of actors, celebrities, politicians, and high New York society. Financial troubles and a sour economy forced him to close the restaurant in August 2009.
During that span of 34 years, though, Café des Artistes was quite successful. On the cuisine, Mr. Lang once said, “The food at the Cafe des Artistes is not trendy and not fashionable. It is food that doesn’t challenge you, food that doesn’t try to prove anything.” One might find on the menu osso bucco made with lamb instead of veal, snails sauteed with onion and prosciutto, stuffed breast of veal, and salmon lightly smoked immediately before serving, prepared by the Executive Chef Andre Guillou.
On his formula for a successful restaurant, Lang said, “When people come in from an inhospitable world, they should step into a world where everyone likes them and wants them. A good restaurant is one that makes diners feel good.”
THE LEOPARD AT DES ARTISTES
In 2011, after fully renovating the space, and fully restoring the Howard Chandler Christy murals adorning its walls, The Leopard at des Artistes was opened by Italian restaurateur Gianfranco Sorrentino, his wife Paula Bolla-Sorrentino, and their partner, Executive Chef Vito Gnazzo, who created the Southern Italian menu that finds its roots in the area once known as The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and the culinary traditions of the regions of Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, Apulia, Sardinia, and of course Sicily, reaching a balance between dishes based on rural elements, such as pasta, vegetables, cheese, and seafood ingredients from the Costiera. The restaurant attracts guests from all over the world, and continues to be the place to go for a discerning clientele seeking excellent Italian food and wine, and an unmatched level of sophisticated hospitality and ambience.
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EXECUTIVE CHEF VITO GNAZZO
Born and raised in the town of Felitto in Salerno, Cilento Coast of Italy, Chef Vito Gnazzo began his culinary career in Milan at El Toula, and later at world-renowned Three Michelin starred restaurant Antica Osteria del Ponte. In 1981 Vito Gnazzo immigrated to the United States, where he hold the position as Head Chef of the legendary REX il Ristorante, in Los Angeles, praised as of the best restaurants in the state of California in the 90s.
After a decade in Los Angeles, Gnazzo moved to the East Coast to be the Executive Chef at Bice Restaurant in New York City, where he met the restaurateur Gianfranco Sorrentino.
In 1993 he became Executive Chef at Sette MoMA, in the prestigious Museum of Modern Art, where he worked for three years. In 1996, he followed his culinary passion deeply rooted in the authenticity of Italian ingredients, and returned to Salerno developing an “agritourism” project associated with La Locanda, the celebrated “farm to table” restaurant in the countryside there.
Upon his return to the United States in 2001, he was tapped by Gianfranco and Paula Bolla-Sorrentino to be their Executive Chef at Il Gattopardo. Since that date, Gnazzo has become part of the Sorrentino’s family, as the ultimate artist behind the Southern Italian menus at Il Gattopardo, The Leopard at des Artistes and Mozzarella & Vino, along with their busy Il Gattopardo Catering division. Gnazzo has been awarded two stars by The New York Times and two and half stars by the New York Post. He is committed to bringing the best of the Italian culinary traditions to all of his creations, typically with the use of humble preparation, and authentic, traditional ingredients.
For more information, call 212-787-8767, or visit www.theleopardnyc.com
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The Leopard at des Artistes
1 West 67th Street
(At Central Park West)
New York, NY 10023
Monday-Friday: 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM dinner
Saturday: 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM brunch; 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM dinner
Sunday: 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM brunch; 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM dinner
