Legendary Vogue editrice, Diana Vreeland, had a standing Sunday reservation for table 1B.Ĭosseting these famously high-strung guests was Glenn Bernbaum, a jaunty retired executive for the Custom Shop Shirtmakers, with 'Ivy League style' and trademark horn-rimmed glasses. Guest, Brooke Astor, Marietta Tree, Katharine Graham and Greta Garbo. Wedged between a Catholic church and a now-defunct gay bar, it served as a private preserve for the kiss-kiss celebrity types of café society - and a launching pad for its proprietor's swift ascent into Manhattan's beau monde.ĭuring any given lunch or dinner, one was likely to see Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sitting pride of place by the front window devouring three little golf-ball sized crab cakes with her posse of Fifth Avenue swans that included Gloria Vanderbilt, Nan Kemper, Carolina Herrera, Estée Lauder, C.Z. Published: 14:19 BST, 23 March 2022 | Updated: 14:54 BST, 29 March 2022įor 22 years, Mortimer's restaurant stood as a high-society saloon on the corner of Lexington and East 75th Street in New York City. According to society chronicler, Dominick Dunne of Vanity Fair, Mortimer's was 'the best show in New York' -but impossible to get a table as outsiders were peremptorily dismissed at the door.
Mortimer's was the inspiration for Tom Wolfe's 1987, book, 'The Bonfire of the Vanities,' where he also coined the term 'social X-ray' after the restaurant's regular Nan Kemper and her coterie skeletal ladies-who-lunched.It's also where the Venezuelan socialite Reinaldo Herrera and his dress-designer wife, Carolina Herrera, threw a private dinner for Princess Margaret where the pianist played 'God Save the Queen' as she got up to leave.It is where Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland, had a standing Sunday reservation for lunch, and where Barbara Walters hosted her birthday party with 30 pals, all female titans of media.Bernbaum was a former officer in the Army's psychological warfare unit during WWII, he commanded his domain as social gatekeeper using the same intimidation tactics on those her perceived as 'outsiders'.Mortimer's was opened in 1976 by Glenn Bernbaum, a retired garment executive industry who famously ran the Upper East Side establishment 'like a private club' for jet set celebrities.A new book, Mortimer's: A Moment in Time, memorializes a bygone restaurant in New York City that once served as an elite playground for socialites like Gloria Vanderbilt, Estée Lauder, C.Z.Swifty’s co-sponsored charitable events including the annual Fete de Swifty’s, which benefited the mayoral-backed NY City Family Justice Initiative.The Army vet who became the king of Manhattan's social scene: New book lifts the lid on man behind '70s high-society hotspot Mortimer's - and his cut-throat vetting process that welcomed rich elite like Anna Wintour and Jackie O and cast out 'unwashed social dead' Moon-landing astronaut Buzz Aldrin often went unrecognized at a small front-room table.Ĭhef Stephen Attoe, who was also an owner, earned accolades from the James Beard Society for his spirited American cooking. Swifty’s was also a favorite of top cop Bill Bratton, who favored the clubby back room with his wife, Rikki Klieman. She recalled, “Once I was in the back room next to Judy Collins, who talked to me like we were old friends.” “I loved going there because you never knew who you’d see,” said a teary-eyed regular who didn’t want to be named. Neighborhood residents as well as high-society swells and celebrities. Swifty’s opened in 1999 as a successor to Mortimer’s, the snooty “society” spot a few blocks north where Caravaggi ran the front of the house.
“We have the nicest, most loyal customers in the world and wonderful employees,” a shattered Caravaggi told The Post. Its demise followed the year-end shuttering of other big-name Manhattan places, including Costata, Ocean Grill, City Hall, Devid Burke Townhouse and Fishtail. Swifty’s, on Lexington Avenue near East 72nd Street, was an Upper East Side institution for 16 years. He cited Swifty’s limited floor space and lack of a bar, along with rising costs and a looming lease expiration, for the closure. “The business climate has not been conducive to a little restaurant like ours,” co-owner Robert Caravaggi said. The uptown boldface mecca - named for a beloved pug that took its moniker from Hollywood agent Swifty Lazar - served its last meal to heartbroken regulars including designer Michael Kors, cosmetics entrepreneur Aerin Lauder and real estate broker Serena Boardman. Swifty’s barked its last on Wednesday night.
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