A new restaurant recently opened on East 63rd Street at Park Avenue. Within three months, it will close. And reopen. And close. And reopen. With each season, what was formerly known as Park Avenue Café will be reborn as a new restaurant.
Park Avenue Summer, as it's currently named, is part of the Smith & Wollensky restaurant group and is supremely in tune with the seasons. While most restaurants adapt their menus to accommodate the available foods and prevailing moods of the time of year, Park Avenue takes seasonality to a new heights and will also completely revamp its décor, staff uniforms and place settings. Currently, waitresses wear sundresses, wall panels are yellow, and guests are served Lemon Sole and Peach Sorbet. The restaurant's interior was created by design agency AvroKO, which took cues from theatre stage sets to help facilitate the transition to Park Avenue Autumn in September.
The concept is an interesting combination of a still made here adherence to nature's rhythms and of the appeal of anything short-lived (a.k.a. pop-up). Park Avenue Summer reminds us of InterContinental's Hotel Indigo, which features mood elements that change to reflect the seasons. If you're in hospitality, take a cue from the pioneers and see if you too can radically transform with the seasons, or with a more arbitrary timeline. Do it well, and customers will keep returning to experience your latest twists and turns.
Website: www.parkavenyc.com
Contact: pany@swrg.com
Spotted by: Salli Vates
I wonder if this will actually pose a negative because of expectations? What I mean by this is that because they can only change superficial interior and not structural I wonder whether that would simply bring boredom? We will see.
Mark Bowness
www.peoplepassionplanet.com
This idea was basically originated several years ago by Darden Restaurants with its Seasons 52 chain. http://www.seasons52.com/
From checking the website, the Seasons 52 idea seems quite different. They don't change their decor, uniforms or name. Plenty of restaurants in the US change their menu by season and use seasonal ingredients, but what seems to make this Park Avenue restaurant unique is that it's basically recreating the entire experience every season. At least that's the way it seems.
Our restaurant Sevendials in Brighton UK has a change of venue only used in the Summer - namely our Terrace. At the moment in England changing for the seasons would have a hollow echo as we are all in our winter gear as it's soooo cold and wet. The idea of our staff in sundresses even in this seaside town makes me shiver!
Regarding Seasons 52 — we actually covered them back in 2005. The seasonally changing menu wasn't what caught our eye, since that's fairly common in restaurants, but we liked their approach to serving low-calorie meals in a sophisticated setting.
http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/seasons_52_peace_of_mind_menus/
@ Tina: hahaha, I know exactly what you mean! Imagine wearing sandals, a sundress and sunglasses in this weather. You'd catch your death!