A Look Back at Postmodern Art Restaurant El Internacional

Back in the early '80s, Tribeca was home to a bizarre but popular Spanish establishment called El Internacional, which Tribeca Citizen describes as "the first postmodern art restaurant." It had a "carnation room" with an "atlas of kisses" from customers, as well as another dining area with video installations of celebrities that visited Teddy's, the restaurant that El Internacional replaced. An aquarium separated two of the spaces, a Statue of Liberty crown adorned the top of building, and the restaurant even published its own newspaper for guests. Naturally, El Internacional was a popular hangout for artists like Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The artist behind El Internacional, Antoni Miralda, is collecting remembrances for a book about the restaurant that he's working on with his partner Montse Guillén, who was the chef there. Head over to Tribeca Citizen for more on the project, plus a ton of photos of El Internacional during it heyday.
· El Internacional, the First Postmodern Art Restaurant [TC]
[Photo: Antoni Miralda/Wikipedia]