{"id":5159,"date":"2025-08-20T01:01:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T01:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2025-08-20T01:01:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T01:01:58","slug":"peacock-football-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=5159","title":{"rendered":"Peacock Football Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The original Waldorf- Astoria hotel at Fifth Avenue and 33rd<\/sup> Street was built in 1893 and torn down in 1929 to make room to build the Empire State Building. That\u00a0 Waldorf Hotel was on the site where millionaire developer William Waldorf Astor<\/a>\u00a0had previously built his mansion. The Astoria Hotel opened in 1897 on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, next door to the Waldorf. The two hotels were connected by the 980-foot-long corridor known as “Peacock Alley” after they merged in 1897.<\/p>\n

And all that palaver, dear reader, brings me to my point. Inspired by a gushing New York Times article on said Peacock Alley (https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/03\/07\/booming\/peacock-alley-a-bar-that-lives-up-to-its-name-and-setting.html<\/a>), a friend and I recently met there for a drink.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what the Times reporter drank but obviously it was more inspiring than our ginger beers.\u00a0 The article calls the place fit for a \u201cquiet drink.\u201d We were there on an ordinary Tuesday night when it was anything but quiet as surfaces are hard, the place is enormous and starting precisely at five PM, the already intrusive canned music was augmented by a man playing the piano. The reporter also calls it \u201ca contemporary, comfortable place.\u201d<\/p>\n

True, the chairs are comfortable, the service is impeccable and I can\u2019t address the quality of the drinks because I didn\u2019t have one. However, the space felt more football field than alley.\u00a0 The ceilings are so high they reduced me to a dot; there are hostesses in sparkly gold dresses and the only connection to peacocks is the color of the waiter\u2019s jackets.<\/p>\n

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Somehow I don’t see this as cozy or intimate.<\/p><\/div>\n

The article also reports on seeing \u201cmany suits, not many jeans\u201d\u2014we saw some men in suits and plenty in shorts and baseball caps.\u00a0 The entire hotel is a mass of huge spaces with one huge entryway flowing into another. I\u2019m sure the owners have ample insurance and may need it because the polished, cream-colored marble stairs are practically an invitation to fall.\u00a0 When I entered via the Lexington Avenue side, I asked the way to reception where my friend and I had agreed to meet. \u201cUp the stairs\u201d said my helper, with no suggestion that an elevator was around somewhere.<\/p>\n

Here’s a real digression: when I think peacock, I flash back to \u201cpeacacocka, \u201c a funny (but maybe you had to be there) incident on one of many trips Joel, my husband, and I took to Japan. We somehow attached ourselves to a Japanese group that boarded a boat for a ride on the Inland Sea, stopping at an island that had an historical connection with Greece. At one point we were led to an area where on the hour peacocks were released from a hillside opening to a recording of the 1812 Overture. Our guide, as limited in her English as we were in Japanese, referred to the birds as \u201cpeacacoka.\u201d This stuck. \"\"<\/p>\n

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However, I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t include a recipe for Waldorf Salad, a staple of my childhood. Whether or not this was originated by the famed chef, Oscar of the Waldorf, is anyone\u2019s guess<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Waldorf Salad<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Serves 6<\/p>\n