Will the creatures of habit who frequent the power-breakfast scene at the Loews Regency Hotel adapt to a restaurant that changes not only its menu but its entire décor every three months?
That is the question facing Jonathan M. Tisch, the chairman of Loews Hotels, who is closing the Regency on Jan. 1 for a yearlong renovation. On Tuesday, the company announced that it plans to recreate its popular breakfast service at Park Avenue, a restaurant two blocks away.
To ease the transition for its regular customers â€" a mix of politicians, lobbyists and media personalities like Larry King and the Rev. Al Sharpton â€" Loews plans to shift its hostess, Leigh Wynn, and possibly a doorman to the new spot. The menu will combine the Regency's standard fare with some of Park Avenue's brunch dishes.
The restaurant is currently known as Park Avenue Autumn, but by the time the Regency closes, it will be known as Park Av enue Winter. Regency regulars who ride out the renovation there will experience at least three changes of seasonal design before returning to the overhauled dining room at the hotel, which Loews hopes will reopen before the end of next year.
Frank Bruni, a former food critic for The New York Times who is now a Times columnist, gave the restaurant a two-star review and called it one of the 10 best new restaurants of 2007.
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