The Quilted Giraffe was a nouvelle cuisine fine dining establishment in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The restaurant, founded by Barry Wine and his now ex-wife Susan, was first opened in New Paltz, New York, in 1975 [1] and moved to 50th Street in Manhattan, New York City, in 1979. The Quilted Giraffe reopened in 550 Madison Avenue (then the AT&T Building) at 55th Street and Madison Avenue in 1987. [2] The restaurant closed at the end of 1992 when Sony purchased the building and bought out the Wines' lease. [3] The restaurant was designed by Woodson Rainey, AIA, of McDonough Rainey Architects.
Regulars at the establishment included Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, Adnan Khashoggi, Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, and John DeLorean and Cristina Ferrare. [4] [5]
The restaurant was awarded four stars by New York Times food critic Marion Burros in 1984 and two additional times by New York Times food critic Bryan Miller. [2]
Among the chefs who worked under Wine at the restaurant and then went on to notable careers are Jan Birnbaum, Carmen González, David Kinch and Tom Colicchio.
Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors of the North Tower of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan.
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550 Madison Avenue is a postmodern skyscraper on Madison Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee with associate architect Simmons Architects, the building is a 647-foot-tall (197-meter), 37-story office tower with a facade made of pink granite. It was completed in 1984 as the headquarters of AT&T Corp. and later became the American headquarters of Sony. A four-story granite annex to the west was demolished and replaced with a shorter annex in the early 2020s.
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Barry Wine is a former restaurateur and current restaurant consultant. Wine's restaurant The Quilted Giraffe, founded with then-wife Susan, was one of the most lauded eateries in the United States for its time. The Quilted Giraffe was first opened in New Paltz, New York, in 1975 and moved to 50th Street in Manhattan, New York City, in 1979. The Quilted Giraffe reopened in 550 Madison Avenue at 55th Street and Madison Avenue in 1987. The restaurant was closed at the end of 1992 when Sony purchased the building and bought out the Wines' lease.
Florence Fabricant is a food critic and food writer. She has authored multiple cookbooks and has regularly contributed to The New York Times since 1980. Fabricant lives in Manhattan, New York and East Hampton, New York.
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Thatcher Wine is a Self-improvement author, professional book curator, bibliophile, and founder of Juniper Books. He is mostly known for designing and creating visually appealing custom curated book libraries. The Guardian and Town & Country have referred Wine as a "celebrity bibliophile".
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