As a vegetarian and automatonophobic, I cannot say that a steakhouse populated by wax figurines is something I'd willingly walk into. But I appreciate the way that Peter Luger has so deftly leaned into our dystopian reality and delivered a delightful surrealistic landscape through a collaboration with Madame Tussauds. It's like that one Black Mirror episode each season that's offered in an almost normal, cheerful-seeming universe where something's just a little bit off. Sinister, even. In this case, it's wax mannequins portraying diners in a restaurant where real humans are no longer allowed to be near each other because of a deadly virus raging across the world.
This is life now.
In a press release today, sent ahead of indoor dining reaching 35% capacity in the city this Friday, Peter Luger Steak House announced the effort, which will help "ensure guests continue to follow social distancing safety measures" by filling up the empty seats with wax portrayals of Jon Hamm, Audrey Hepburn, Jimmy Fallon, and Al Roker. (Charles Entertainment Cheese was sadly unavailable.) The figurines won't be there forever, though, they will only be on hand through March 1st.
Love to see these two legendary New York City institutions coming together — this is why we live here, people.
