Victorian Restaurant in the Heart of New York

While in New York last week to give a talk about my book America’s Romance with the English Garden at the NY Public Library, I found a Victorian restaurant called Lillie’s.

Since I have been reading a great deal about the Victorian garden of late, I thought a bit of a diversion into a new Victorian  restaurant might be in order, though that might seem at first an odd combination of descriptors for the latest in a carefully designed dining space.

You will find Lillie’s in the heart of the Broadway theater district on West 49th Street.

Many things I liked about the place, even the exterior, which was so inviting. [left]

The inside offered much of interest as well, like the dozens of pictures, vases, candles, and overstuffed chairs.

The mahogany bar takes your breath away when you enter because it seems to measure almost a city block in length. It appears to go on forever.

We ate at the bar and later I walked around the restaurant for a close-up view of the Victoriana with which the owners have filled Lillie’s from ceiling to floor, from wall to wall.

The furniture in mahogany, the pictures, the wallpaper, the drapes, the countless mirrors –  all speak of the way the Victorians decorated: lots of stuff to remind the world that they had indeed arrived.

I must also mention the ceiling, which appeared to be covered in tin, went up three floors of the building. That too was quite impressive.

One thing we can say about the late Victorian period of the 1890s is there was no fear of cluttering up a space, of course in the best of style and taste for that era.