New York's Hal Rubenstein visits Lever House and loves it. Gothamist loved this description of how Lever House owners fine tuned the restaurant after "prickly" early weeks:
A growing bar crowd discouraged. Demographics shifted and fell into place. Those who love table-hopping at 66 and lounging for hours in a booth at Pastis went back where they belong. Now that everyone is seated, you can appreciate the room’s wonderful sight lines...After two months, Lever House is dancing.
Translation: Lever House is serious and seriously delicious, neither a fad nor a hipster version of Applebee's, you trend whoring scags (No word on if LH can be the hangout for interior design students taken with Mark Newson's design). But Gothamist still likes hanging out for hours at Pastis, as we'll whore any trend that includes frites and crepes suzettes.
More about Lever House restaurant




My (cute) bartender there was actually a design student (from Parsons? I forget.) who applied for the job because he heard the room was designed by Newson. I dunno if he was one of the "prickly" things that was changed after the opening; he was adorable but not really what you'd call a mixologist. As for the room design: I think it looks like a giant cat carrier. Meow.
Heh, giant cat carrier. I think the bizarro Lever House restaurant would have a working beehive in plexiglass somewhere.
And I like the idea of people working there just because of the design. "I love David Rockwell, that's why I'm here at Ruby Foo's to serve you."