Our Man in New York: Eating my words

FAMOUS LAST words. You may remember my gushing about the service at Central Park One, a restaurant in the venerable Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue. Now I learn the place is closed.

There is worse. In April, the entire Plaza will be shut down by new owners for a two-year renovation, after which only the exterior will be recognisable. Of the 800 hotel rooms, only about 150 will remain, the others transformed into apartments. And part of the interior will become a departure store. It is true that as a hotel, the Plaza had seen better times. But the restaurant was as good as it gets.