Bonus history of the Toffenetti Restaurant on the corner.
Courtesy of Cathy Dorsey, via the Manhattan Before 1990 FB Group.
Dario Toffenetti immigrated to the US from Austria in 1910. After success as a restaurateur in Chicago he expanded eastward. He commissioned architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design his restaurant at the SE corner of W 43rd St. and Broadway, one of the firm’s earliest projects. It was a sleek two-story building fronted with curved blue-glass panels, outfitted with an escalator. It had an exposed show-off gleaming stainless steel kitchen separated from the diningroom by a glass wall so that diners could see the action. It had murals painted by Hugh Troy. Toffenetti Restaurant opened on August 7, 1940, with seating for 1,000 and service 24/7.
Bonus history of the Toffenetti Restaurant on the corner. Courtesy of Cathy Dorsey, via the Manhattan Before 1990 FB Group.
Dario Toffenetti immigrated to the US from Austria in 1910. After success as a restaurateur in Chicago he expanded eastward. He commissioned architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design his restaurant at the SE corner of W 43rd St. and Broadway, one of the firm’s earliest projects. It was a sleek two-story building fronted with curved blue-glass panels, outfitted with an escalator. It had an exposed show-off gleaming stainless steel kitchen separated from the diningroom by a glass wall so that diners could see the action. It had murals painted by Hugh Troy. Toffenetti Restaurant opened on August 7, 1940, with seating for 1,000 and service 24/7.