Goodbye Gotham Bar & Grill

The bar seen from the restaurant, with the ‘cloud’ lights

After 36 years (which one writer pointed out is 100 in restaurant years) The Gotham Bar & Grill has closed.

[David Rockwell said this about the Gotham in New York Magazine’s issue on what we have lost in NYC:

54. Gotham Bar and Grill

Restaurant | Greenwich Village | 1984

David Rockwell, Architect: I first went to gotham in 1985 or 1986. I thought of it as this ultimate kind of urban experience. It just felt like a destination, a sort of fantasy of what a New York City restaurant was from every point of view.

One of the things that creates such a strong memory of a restaurant is the movement path. I remember the experience of coming up to the host and then making a left to step up to the bar; that elevated bar gave you a kind of stage. When you came into the dining area, you had to turn left to look into the room where you’ve got that long view down toward the window. I was also attracted to the quality of light in the space. Those balloon light fixtures went from being original to being dated to being iconic. They cast a light that was a lot like a photo studio’s — just soft, beautiful light. It had this urban-loft feeling that was so comforting. I took inspiration from it when I designed Nobu back in ’94.

I went to Gotham over and over again at different parts of my…