HUNGRY GERALD

The Oak Room in New York’s venerable Plaza Hotel was, in HG’s opinion, the most history-drenched and comfortable restaurant in New York. Alas, HG just learned, the beautiful room has closed. HG has written before about happy times there and merry martini sipping in the adjacent Oak Bar. Memories: Tournedos with Bearnaise Sauce and Souffle Potatoes. Braised Celery with Beef Marrow. Cary Grant (looking and behaving like Cary Grant) at an adjoining table. HG had a charge account at the Oak Room and a tendency to run up large bills. HG, during that cycle in HG’s professional life, did not pay bills promptly. HG relished the good manners and courtesy of the gentle letter he received from the Oak Room management when HG was six months in arrears: “It appears that due to the many pressures and obligations of your career, you may have overlooked etc., etc.,etc.”

HG always paid…Eventually.

In the early years of their marriage, HG and BSK often suffered from the money shorts. This did not prevent the Young Marrieds (and recent parents) from living very well. Indeed, when wallets were empty, HG and BSK went to the sumptuous Oak Room of the Plaza Hotel where HG had a charge account. The Oak Room radiated chic and old fashioned glamour. HG and BSK once dined at a table next to one occupied by Cary Grant and a merry party. It was a fitting setting for that most debonair of movie stars.

And what was on the menu for impecunious but happy HG and BSK? Beverages: Icy vodka martinis (for HG), carafes of the very good house Chablis and house burgundy (for BSK and HG) . First course: Thinly sliced Scottish smoked salmon with capers, lemon and olive oil. Buttered brown bread. Main: Tournedos (rare chunks of the center of beef tenderloin) in a fragrant wine sauce. Sides: Souffle potatoes wrapped in a linen napkin and served in a silver dish. Braised celery topped with beef marrow. Dessert: Chocolate pots de creme. Truly luxe dining. And, the Plaza never murmured when it took HG six months to pay the bill.