The Mark Hotel
New York City
Whether you are retreating from the crisp winds that sweep across
Central Park or returning from the exclusive shopping salons of
Madison Avenue nearby, the instant you greet the courteous doorman at
the Mark Hotel on East 77th Street in Manhattan you'll receive shelter
from those city excitements. The hotel's bright, welcoming lobby is
small and intimate. Its polished marble floor and human-scale
reception/concierge desk--as opposed to one that could be mistaken for
an airline-ticket counter--contributes even more to an uncluttered and
sophisticated air.
The Mark is part of Rafael Hotels Ltd., an independent group of
international luxury hotels. The staff, attired in neat, dark suits
and skirts, is attentive and efficient; the accents many of them
possess betray not only their own international experience but the
hotel's leanings toward an eclectic clientele. It all adds up to a
carefully constructed feeling of an oasis amidst the fast pace of
Manhattan.
The hint of Old World warmth combined with a very contemporary air of
efficiency and wide-ranging, sometimes indulgent service extends
throughout the hotel. It is most visible, appropriately, in the Mark's
dining and drinking rooms, located off the lobby and divided by
separate entrances. While maintaining a consistent sense of clubhouse
ease, each sets its own tone in lighting and decor.
The restaurant, Mark's, which is entered by crossing the lobby and
descending a couple of steps, is ingeniously designed, with groupings
of tables and banquettes framed by glowing wood balconies; shojilike
ceiling panels lend an Eastern aura of privacy to the room, which is
on two levels.
The seasonal menu is a quietly adventurous blending of regional
American ingredients with Italian and French preparations. Examples of
this multinational mélange include a matelote of calamari with
braised cabbage and stout cream sauce served as an appetizer
($13.50) and entrées like roasted Modesto Valley squab,
accompanied by corn salsa and a bitter-chocolate sauce ($31). The
generous plates that emerge from the kitchen are bursting with fresh
flavors that the chef, Frenchman Erik Maillard, formerly chef de
cuisine at Les Célébrités in Manhattan, manages
to unveil at just the right moment. The wine list mirrors the menu's
strengths in the American West and in the classic values of France and
Italy. Every month a particular vintner is featured, and each course
is designed to reflect and complement a selection from that
winery. Maillard also recommends the wines from New Zealand and
Australia.
After a dinner as rich and unabashed as this, there seems little else
to do before you saunter across the street to catch Bobby Short or
Eartha Kitt's cabaret act at the Cafe Carlyle. But you also can wend
your way back across the lobby to the 32-seat bar, where the lighting
is softer, the tables are closer and cushier and cigar smoking is
permitted. Along with a glass of vintage Guimaraens 1978 Port ($15),
you can choose a cigar from a selection of Davidoffs (from
Ambassadrice at $5 to Aniversario No. 1, $15) kept on the bar. A
variety of seasonal specialty drinks and desserts are also available.
Along with that Madison Avenue shopping spree and a walk in Central
Park, you might have renewed your esthetic sensibilities with
neighborhood visits to the Whitney Museum of American Art or the
Metropolitan Museum. Perhaps you ambled up to the Guggenheim Museum at
89th Street and Fifth Avenue or visited nearby art galleries.
Once you manage to stand up and head for your room, you'll find the
trip remarkably simple. The elevator is again a short trip back across
the lobby, and the size of the hotel--120 rooms and 60 suites on 16
floors--makes for easy navigation. The rooms are spacious and quite
comfortable. If anything, they have an overabundance of inviting
furniture, and finding the right surface to throw yourself down on
presents a difficult choice. But with Maillard's breakfast waiting,
it's an effort worth making.
-- Peter Slatin is a frequent contributor to Cigar
Aficionado and The New York Times.
The Mark Hotel
25 East 77th Street
Phone: (212) 744-4300,
(800) The Mark [843-6275]
Room rates: $285 ($245 on weekends)
to $2,200
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