The highly anticipated Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City has thrown the doors open to Café Carmellini, a classic Manhattan brasserie helmed by the much-loved chef Andrew Carmellini. Installed within a contemporary Gilded Age interior designed by Martin Brudnizki, the restaurant faithfully upholds the historic grandeur of the hotel, itself a landmark having previously been the mansion and carriage house of Ms. Charlotte Goodridge, a society fixture from the Gilded Age.
Like the rest of the building, which was originally designed as a five-storey palazzo by the iconic McKim, Mead & White, Café Carmellini exudes old-world elegance. Double-height ceilings, two sculptural trees and balcony seating hark back to an era when Carmellini’s own grandfather, an immigrant and coffee import business owner from Tuscany, first stepped foot on American shores.
