The Waldorf-Astoria’s Fresh Bid for Dining Relevance

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The grand restoration of the Waldorf-Astoria, a nearly decadelong undertaking that was completed earlier this year, has resulted in hundreds of plush rooms and nicely appointed residences. Far more important to me, though—and to anyone else unlikely to stay upstairs—are the hotel’s public spaces. The Waldorf-Astoria is built as much out of decorative marvels as it is of brick and rebar. There is Louis Rigal’s otherworldly “Wheel of Life” floor mosaic, eighteen feet in diameter, set into the floor of the lobby on Park Avenue and restored to a gleaming shine. There is the absurdly ornate Waldorf clock, originally commissioned by Queen Victoria, towering over t