The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story

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In its heyday--the mid-1980s--the Russian Tea Room was a celebrity force field, known more for its clientele than its food. Frequented by the likes of Jackie O., Rudolph Nureyev, and Leonard Bernstein, it had mutated over the years from a homey refuge for expatriate Russians, musicians, and not-always-solvent artists to a big-deal lunch-spot in the swollen New York tradition. Faith Stewart-Gordon, the Tea Room's owner from 1967 until its 1996 sale, saw it all and has put much of it down in the inevitably named The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story. Part autobiography, part real-estate memoir, all celebrity roll call, the book provides a decent share of the titillation it promises, a diverting bang for the buck.

Tracing her life from her early days as a would-be actress, Stewart-Gordon recounts her marriage to Sidney Kaye, from whom she inherited the restaurant; motherhood (a troubled daughter); intermittent affairs (glancingly depicted); a second marriage (ending in divorce); Tea Room stewardship (resistance from the staff at first then respect and triumph); and the final decision to sell the store ("to find closure" and "begin a new life")--and more. Stewart-Gordon does best when recounting the real-estate wars and other nitty-gritty matters that beset the Tea Room, which is situated on very valuable land, indeed. She is, however, hampered by her use of a circular narrative, which anticipates many events, leaving these touched-upon but frustratingly unexplored. (We learn, for example, of her first husband's death in passing--chapters before we get to the actual details.) It's a parenthetical approach that dissipates what narrative steam the author manages to generate.

In the end, though, it's Woody, Dustin, and Andy we've come to see, and see them we do. And that's what the Tea Room was about for us outsiders who followed it--a chance to feel closer to the buzz. This book promises, and largely delivers, another way in. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

"The last thing I expected to do was marry a man eighteen years older than I was who owned a restaurant. The fact that the restaurant was the Russian Tea Room on West 57th Street in New York, I expected even less...."

So begins The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story by former owner Faith Stewart-Gordon. Charming and revealing, this highly anticipated memoir shows why the legendary restaurant lives up to its reputation -- and then some.

Rudolf Nuteyev told Time magazine that the Russian Tea Room was what he liked most about America. Carol Channing regularly dined there for lunch -- on mysterious items she'd bring herself in a lunch box. Leonard Bernstein scribbled the first bars of "Fancy Free" there on a napkin. And Dustin Hoffman made his hilarious and unforgettable first public appearance as a woman from the famous movie Tootsie at the Russian Tea Room.

Now, just in time for the Russian Tea Room's long-awaited reopening, comes this delightful, anecdote-rich story of the famed New York eatery -- and more. It's not just about a famous place, it is a true memoir, at times very funny, always touching, sometimes sad, and often revealing, about a brave and quirky young South Carolina woman, Faith Stewart-Gordon. From the early 1950s and acting on Broadway to her marriage to the Russian Tea Room owner Sidney Kaye and her subsequent struggles to operate the restaurant after his death, she balanced a career and young motherhood, a journey with which many will empathize. Faith Stewart-Gordon never lost sight of what went on behind the scenes, both in the restaurant and in her own life.

The Russian Tea Room is not only a story of survival but of the quest for self-knowledge set against the most glamorous of backgrounds.

Customer Reviews:

PASS THE CAVIAR, PLEASE.......2005-05-05

When heralding the reopening of New York City's fabled restaurant The Russian Tea Room, a glitzy magazine headlined "Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams." Its new owner, the article trumpeted, unwrapped "a fabulous Faberge' egg of a restaurant"- 37,000 square feet, six stories of opulence including Tiffany glass-made ceilings and an ice sculpted replica of the Kremlin that is replaced thrice daily.

Despite the $22 million dollar renovation it's hard to believe that this West 57th Street watering hole for the glitterati could be any more exciting today than it was during the years described by Faith Stewart-Gordon in The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story.

A Southern belle and sometime actress Ms. Stewart-Gordon was married to Sidney Kaye, an exuberant, mercurial man of Russian descent who ran the Tea Room from the mid-40's until his death in 1967, when Ms. Stewart-Gordon took over the operation.

She observed the bistro's halcyon years - days when regular patrons were theatre luminaries such as Arthur Miller, Carol Channing (who brought her own food), Paul Newman (who delighted in arriving sans reservation), , Joanne Woodward, Liza Minnelli, Sidney Portier, and countless others. That was the time when Zero Mostel convulsed diners as he pretended to be a waiter, and a staff that was used to their A-list clientele surreptitiously watched Jackie Onassis and Mike Nichols lunching in the number one booth.

Born in South Carolina, the daughter of a woman whose only contact with a kitchen occurred when she heated canned mushroom soup for their Sunday night suppers, Ms. Stewart-Gordon seemed an unlikely bride for an urbane restaurant owner 18 years her senior. She had gone to New York City in the early 1950's in search of an acting career not a husband.

But, then a friend introduced her to Sidney Kaye, a man she describes as not "conventionally handsome" but "vitally attractive." Despite her gaff of wearing a "lime green nylon wash-and-wear dress" on their first date and following a two-year "Sturm und Drang" courtship, the two were wed.

Thus began Ms. Stewart-Gordon's initiation into the New York restaurant world. This was a turf where the pecking order was set in stone, and territorial lines were not to be crossed.
She learned this lesson well when she once made the unconscionable error of seating patrons when that was clearly the bailiwick of a haughty but able seating captain.

For a time following her marriage Ms. Stewart-Gordon focused on domesticity, even taking cooking lessons from a Cordon Bleu graduate. Regrettably, after tasting her Veal Orloff, Sidney returned to the restaurant for dinner. Only a minor setback, but she then centered on The Russian Tea Room until the birth of their daughter, Ellen.

Ms. Stewart-Gordon's reminiscences of life at the RTR (as it was known to insiders) is also a chronicle of business and Big Apple history. She discusses the 1959 launching of the Diners Club and its impact on the restaurant industry, the groundbreaking for Lincoln Center, the advent of new forms of dining, and other innovations that affected both patrons and owners.

These observations are studded with remembrances of the famous who happily swung through the RTR's revolving doors. While at times the author's attention to minutia can be tedious, such as a detailed retelling of her battle with City Hall, The Russian Tea Room is light, entertaining reading - often as spicy as a good stroganoff.

- Gail Cooke

A disappointment.......2000-04-11

Piqued by the description, I bought this book for my mom for Christmas. She read it and then lent it to me. I just read it, and am now convinced that I should buy my mom another Christmas present. How disappointing. There is a great deal of interesting content here, however the writing technique (or lack of it) becomes an obstacle to enjoying it. It's like taking a ride in a psychotic New York time machine: The book jumps from thought to thought and from era to era. The services of a ghostwriter would have improved this story immensely.

In addition, it appears that the author is making the assumption that her readers are born-and-bred New Yorkers. She has opportunities to expand on aspects of New York life that would be interesting to outsiders, but she chooses not to pursue them.

I Was There.......2000-02-22

I read Ms. Stewart-Gordon's book with great interest, as I worked as a waitress at The Russian Tea Room from 1971-1976. I learned a few historical things that I didn't know, and it jogged my memory on other items of interest. I also greatly admired the author's bravery and candor in describing her relationship with her daughter Ellen. However, I found the "behind the scenes" portions not as revealing and newsy as I expected. I found the book a bit dull in many parts, and it was poorly edited. I am, however, thrilled to have this volume to pass on to my son, as an important part of his mother's history, as well as a piece of New York City's history.

A lively history of an equally lively restaurant........2000-02-04

For almost a century Manhattan's Russian Tea Room was a magnet for patrons of the arts, from music and drama to ballet and publishing. Here the woman who owned and ran the restaurant for almost thirty years provides a survey of its evolution, from her initial dreams of a famous New York career to her marriage into a restaurant. A lively survey of a famous establishment about to re-open.

A non-vicious glimpse of the rich and famous.......1999-10-15

Even after reading it, one wonders how a young woman could make the transition from small-town life in the South in the 1940s to the fast paced life of New York City - and still keep her wits about her. Ms. Stewart-Gordon takes a candid look at herself, her successes and her failures alike, and comes up a winner. She has seen some good times and been threatened with some bad ones, and has dug her little Southern heels in like a real trouper to come out on top. I say good for her!

The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story (ISBN:0684859815)

Average customer rating:

The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story (ISBN:0684859815)
Faith Stewart-Gordon
Manufacturer: Scribners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LC2WMG

Average customer rating:

The Russian Tea Room A Love Story
Stewart-Gordon Faith
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDW27Q

Average customer rating:

The Russian Tea Room A Love Story
Faith Stewart-Gordon
Manufacturer: Scribner (Simon & Schuster)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0UP60

Average customer rating:

The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story
Faith Stewart-Gordon
Manufacturer: Scribners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQNNR8

Book Description

Experience hunting grizzly bears in British Columbia, moose in Ontario, and deer and antelope in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. Fish for salmon in New Brunswick, and trout and steelhead in all the major streams of Michigan.

This humorous and engaging collection describes the beauty and serenity of the water and woods, and one man's love and respect for the outdoors. Above all, Backcasts is a story of camaraderie—of friends joined by a mutual love of nature and bound by sportsmanship.

Customer Reviews:

Ol' guys really tell it like it is..........2007-05-30

This easy to read book is just the ticket for a long plane flight or just kicking back in the barkalounger and taking the weight off.
The author does a really nice job of telling his story to the fishing and non-fishing reader in a style that is folksy, down home, and just the right amount of sugar. After reading these stories, I thouhgt that when it comes to my turn to write my story, that I can make the presentation accuratly, mend across the fast water, and finally catch and relese my reader.

BACKCASTS: MEMORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS OF SEVENTY YEARS AS A SPORTSMAN: FISHING, HUNTING AND OTHER STORIES

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BACKCASTS: MEMORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS OF SEVENTY YEARS AS A SPORTSMAN: FISHING, HUNTING AND OTHER STORIES
John Knowles
Manufacturer: Wilderness Adventure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

According to Jane Billinghurst, men created the idea of the temptress — an irresistible woman bent on bringing them down — to justify the fact that they so often surrender to women, especially in the bedroom. In this fascinating study, she examines this vision in history, mythology, in the Bible, artwork, and film. She traces the evolution of the temptress from an almost demonic presence in folklore to current in-your-face performers like Madonna.

The changing image of the temptress reflects the ebb and flow of men's fears and fantasies, as well as women's self-possession and power. When men feel threatened by women's control, temptresses are seen as dangerous. When there is a lull in the battle of the sexes, these women become objects of fantasies. Billinghurst makes the case that when men begin to accept women as equals, the figure of the temptress will serve to accommodate both male and female desires.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful coffee table book.......2006-06-30

Beautiful coffee table book, but the historical inaccuracies were pretty annoying. For instance: Cleopatra was not a descendant of Alexander the Great, but of one his military generals, Ptolemy, who was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC.

In a Class by Itself.......2004-08-20

Beautifully illustrated (the book won the 2004 Alcuin award for excellence in Canadian book design), it contains a wonderful selection of relevant paintings (works by Rackham, Waterhouse, and John Singer Sargent appear side by side with discoveries by less familiar artists such as John Collier (who painted the wonderful rendition of Lilith on the cover), Papety, Gennari, Dury, and Henry Bone. Add to this a fine selection of still photos of Claudette Colbert (a luscious Cleopatra), Jane Russell, Clara Bow, Rita Hayworth, etc., and the visual appeal of the book is irresistible.

The early chapters offer an excellent concise sampling of sensuality in art, literature, and fable from classical antiquity to the middle ages. The later chapters tread on more familiar territory (film and the music scene), but are always insightful as well. The work skillfully avoids the pitfalls of the Prioleau and Griffin books -- too much feminist jargon in the former, too much purple prose in the latter.

Comparable works -- "Encyclopedia of Mistresses" by Dawn B. Sova, the Trevelyan book ("Hussies"), and "Courtesans" by Katie Hickman -- also have their charms, but the unillustrated Trevelyan book (a great read) appears to be out of print, while Hickman's focuses on the lives of five relatively anonymous "courtesans" rather than the more flamboyant sisters-in-arms that Jane Billinghurst so delightfully captures.

The book would be a bargain for the lavish artwork alone, but the author (who judging from the back flap is a bit of a temptress herself) has really outdone herself in providing an entertaining and perceptive study of the temptress phenomenon. The book is recommended for women's studies courses or human sexuality reference collections, but it is far more than that -- it is a delightful, informative, entertaining volume that is a real pleasure to own. Get a copy it and see!

In a Class by Itself.......2004-08-12

Like its author, Oxford-educated writer and editor Jane Billinghurst, this book is in a class by itself. Of several works that have been written on the subject of famous courtesans, temptresses, and hussies in history ("Seductress" by Prioleau, "The Book of the Courtesans" by Susan Griffin, or the wonderfully titled "Famous Hussies of History" by Albert Payson Terhune), this is clearly the book to own.

Beautifully illustrated (the book won the 2004 Alcuin award for excellence in Canadian book design), it contains a wonderful selection of relevant paintings (works by Rackham, Waterhouse, and John Singer Sargent appear side by side with discoveries by less familiar artists such as John Collier (who painted the wonderful rendition of Lilith on the cover), Papety, Gennari, Dury, and Henry Bone. Add to this a fine selection of still photos of Claudette Colbert (a luscious Cleopatra), Jane Russell, Clara Bow, Rita Hayworth, etc., and the visual appeal of the book is irresistible.

The early chapters offer an excellent concise sampling of sensuality in art, literature, and fable from classical antiquity to the middle ages. The later chapters tread on more familiar territory (film and the music scene), but are always insightful as well. The work skillfully avoids the pitfalls of the Prioleau and Griffin books -- too much feminist jargon in the former, too much purple prose in the latter.

Comparable works -- "Encyclopedia of Mistresses" by Dawn B. Sova, the Trevelyan book ("Hussies"), and "Courtesans" by Katie Hickman -- also have their charms, but the unillustrated Trevelyan book (a great read) appears to be out of print, while Hickman's focuses on the lives of five relatively anonymous "courtesans" rather than the more flamboyant sisters-in-arms that Jane Billinghurst so delightfully captures.

The book would be a bargain for the lavish artwork alone, but the author (who judging from the back flap is a bit of a temptress herself) has really outdone herself in providing an entertaining and perceptive study of the temptress phenomenon. The book is recommended for women's studies courses or human sexuality reference collections, but it is far more than that -- it is a delightful, informative, entertaining volume that is a real pleasure to own. Get a copy it and see!

Particularly recommended for Women's Studies reading lists.......2004-06-13

Temptress: From The Original Bad Girls To Women On Top by Jane Billinghurst meticulously examines the image of the temptress (the woman that men find irresistible) while drawing from the ancient stories of Lilith and Eve, to such modern-day icons as Mae West and Madonna. Covering cultural legends and attitudes ranging across the span of recorded human history, Temptress examines how the image of the seductive woman has been used to portray a threat, a delight, or even as an image reclaimed by women themselves. A provocative yet scholarly survey, Temptress is strikingly illustrated with full-page black-and-white and color photography. Temptress is particularly recommended for Women's Studies reading lists and Human Sexuality Studies reference collections.

Book Description

These challenging and brilliantly colorful puzzles will work out the brain and amaze the eye. Many of the pictures have a trick to fool the puzzler, from vivid optical illusions to 3-D effects that dazzle. Other problems feature a mathematical component—but even before doing the arithmetic, you’ve got to figure out the logic behind the question. So it’s important to look hard and pay close attention. Five bright soccer balls look almost the same. Which ball isn’t like the others? A group of bike racers ride across the page in an astounding array. But wait: one of the riders is wearing the wrong number. Hint: the colors of the shirts are the key to the answer.

Customer Reviews:

A dumbbell for your mental muscle.......2007-05-11

The puzzles in this collection are very hard, it took me a great deal of time to think my way through some of them and many of them I just did not get. Of course, like all good puzzles, the solution was understandable once I looked at it. Each of the puzzles is visual, demonstrated in a diagram with excellent coloration. Many involve the computation of missing numbers, some are pattern (mis)matching and others involve following a maze.
While the puzzles are always challenging and frequently frustrating, they are enjoyable. Many studies have proven that the brain is just like a bicep, the more you flex it the stronger and more functional it becomes. In that context, the puzzles in this book are like a dumbbell, although sometimes they will make you feel like one.

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Brainstrains Eye Popping Puzzles
Frank Coussement
Manufacturer: STERLING PUBLISHING CO., INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SMZ3NE

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