A Two Year Timeline of the Revamped Oak Room at the Plaza

In November of 2008, the partners Joey Allaham, Eli Gindi (founder of department store Century 21), and restaurateur Arthur Emil reopened the landmarked and much storied restaurant and bar within the Plaza Hotel, The Oak Room after a long revamp of the hotel's grounds and other restaurant The Palm Court. It was never heavily populated—treated more of a museum piece than a go-to spot— but still, it's old and famous and in the Plaza and had some potential. Let's see how it's fared in the last two years:

· November 2008: Oak Room opens with chef Joel Atunes at the helm, launches uber expensive menu in middle of recession
· February 4, 2009: Frank Bruni awards the it one star.
· February 23, 2009: Adam Platt drops a goose egg on the Oak Room.
· February 25, 2009: Joel Atunes is given the boot.
· February 26, 2009: Chef Eric Hara hired as new chef at The Oak Room
· June 2009: The Oak Room is in debt.
· February 16, 2010: They launch a $35 prix fixe.
· February 18, 2010: Commenter so bored by food that he is excited when a bar fight breaks out.
· August, 2010: The Oak Room launches burlesque nights.
· Today: The Oak Room is soon to be a host to the drunken brunches once held at Merkato 55 and Bagatelle, which often feature "hot twenty-somethings wielding sparklers and giant bottles of champagne." The end.