The Rainbow Room (65th floor of Rockefeller Center)
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Entrance to Rockefeller Center
The interior of the Rainbow Room following the 2014 reopening
The Rainbow Room's dance floor
The restaurant in its glory days
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Rockefeller Center, the largest private development in the city at that time, was completed in 1933, the lowest point of the Great Depression. It was a fortuitous year for another reason: the repeal of Prohibition. Though the building's landlord, John D. Rockefeller, was famously temperate, Americans were eager to imbibe again, especially in a lavishly decorated venue. Though he ooposed both alcohol and ritzy gatherings, Rockefeller nonetheless decided that the Rainbow Room, as the new restaurant was named, would be one of the most opulent in the city.
The restaurant, which was almost named Stratsophere, opened in 1934 on the sixty-fifth floor of Rockefeller Center. It offered remarkable views of the city and was immediately one of the most popular destinations in the city. With its white tie dress code, its patrons were dressed to the nines and it soon became the place to see and be seen.
To keep the well-heeled and famous coming, the Rainbow Room had to keep its entertainment top-notch. The restaurant's performers might include Broadway singers, magicians, fortune tellers, or internationally-known lounge acts. It also offered a rotating dancefloor, one of the Rainbow Room's most popular features. Regulars at the restaurant could expect to see any number of A-list celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Sir Lawrene Olivier, and Bette Davis. To cement its status as a gathering spot for celebrities, the New York Film Critics Circle Award ceremony was held in the Rainbow Room off and on from 1939.
By the late twentieth century, however, the Rainbow Room was not the popular spot it once had been. Incredible views of the city were not the novelty they were in 1934 and the restaurant faced increased competition from other, equally lavish establishments. Nonetheless, the restaurant was remodeled in 1987 and celebrated with a glitzy reopening that harkened back to its midcentury heyday. New York society was in full attendance, including Donald and Ivana Trump, Leona Helmsley, Liza Minelli, and many others.
In 2009, the Rainbow Room after limping through the recession of 2008. The famed restaurant remained shuttered for five years. In spite of its being closed, in 2012, the restaurant was named a New York City Landmark. After another extensive remodel, the Rainbow Room reopened in 2014, though it is open to the public only for Sunday brunch and Monday dinner.
Sources
Fabricant , Florence . 65 Floors Up, A Classic Returns , New York Times . September 29th 2014. Accessed September 19th 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/dining/rainbow-room-is-set-to-reopen-on-oct-5.html.
Heil, Meredith . A Brief History of the Rainbow Room , Thirteen.org. Accessed September 19th 2020. https://www.thirteen.org/program-content/a-brief-history-of-the-rainbow-room/.
Forgione , Mary . New York City: 30 Rock's Historic Rainbow Room Set to Reopen , Los Angeles Times . October 4th 2014. Accessed September 19th 2020. https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-new-york-city-rainbow-room-20141001-story.html.
At the Rainbow Room , Rockefeller Center . June 19th 2014. Accessed September 19th 2020. https://www.rockefellercenter.com/blog/2014/06/19/rainbow-room/.