Opening Shot is a column that peeks inside new hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops with dreamy interiors.
THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL
Location: New York City
Designer: Martin Brudnizki Design Studio
On Offer: The Fifth Avenue Hotel unites a new, 24-floor glass tower and a restored five-story McKim, Mead & White building of brick and limestone into 153 graciously sized suites and rooms, all conceived with Martin Brudnizki’s signature maximalist flair. Chandeliers glitter with gem-toned crystals, elevator lobbies shimmer in blushing silk, and wild beasts clamber across the rugs and wallpaper. Rooms are well-appointed: The Baudelaire Suite is rung with tasseled paisley curtains, leather accessories, tables glowing with inlays of shell, and a massive terrace overlooking NoMad. Delicate marquetry defines The Cellar, a private dining room just off the hotel’s titular avenue that hosts receptions of up to 130 people, or a culinary adventure in smaller, six-course dinners. For true Gilded Age reverie, however, rent out The Mansion Ballroom, which can accommodate 200 guests below 12-foot ceilings illuminated by Brudnizki’s chandeliers, golden candelabra, and royal blue accents.
Standout Amenities: Locanda Verde and Lafayette’s own Chef Andrew Carmellini helms the Café Carmellini in the original five-story building. Its kitchen is in view from both the blue velvet banquettes and the balconies that float among trees grounded in room-dividing planters. The neoclassical architecture melds with Carmellini’s rethinking of classic Italian and French cuisine, including Artichoke Florentine and Cannellini of Lobster and Golden Osetra. And the intimate Portrait Bar is an ideal spot for a nightcap: dark wood paneling backdropping decades of portrait paintings offers respite from city streets, while the menu devised by bar director Darryl Chan finds urbane influence everywhere from New Orleans to Kolkata with Indian-inspired concoctions of rum, sotol, mango, coconut, Bombay Spice Blend, and more.
