Rare Books
"Property From The Estate Of Glenn Bernbaum" 1999 Sotheby's
$350
Sotheby's
161 lots
1999
10.5" x 8 3/8"
w/ prices realized sheet laid-in
Glenn Bernbaum, the owner of Mortimer's restaurant, a favorite watering hole for Manhattan socialites, glitz folk and achievers from 1976-1999
Mr. Bernbaum built Mortimer's on the sheer force of his personality. An unassuming, brick-walled, moderate-size restaurant at Lexington Avenue and 75th Street, it became virtually a private club to the sort of fashionables whose names fill the gossip columns. Through the years, Mr. Bernbaum spent hours each day juggling seating arrangements because his restaurant had only 19 tables, most of which barely accommodated four diners each.
Royalty, nobility and status names like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Brooke Astor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Bill Blass, Reinaldo and Carolina Herrera, and Nan Kempner were automatically assigned visibility -- 1B, the window table to the right of the door.
On the rare times when these luminaries were not present, Mr. Bernbaum had to make decisions that would stump Solomon. If there was a party of four or five ''known'' people, the table went to them. If there were more than one party of such rank, Mr. Bernbaum would reach back to his maxim: ''The trick in seating is not where they are but who they are surrounded by.''
161 lots
1999
10.5" x 8 3/8"
w/ prices realized sheet laid-in
Glenn Bernbaum, the owner of Mortimer's restaurant, a favorite watering hole for Manhattan socialites, glitz folk and achievers from 1976-1999
Mr. Bernbaum built Mortimer's on the sheer force of his personality. An unassuming, brick-walled, moderate-size restaurant at Lexington Avenue and 75th Street, it became virtually a private club to the sort of fashionables whose names fill the gossip columns. Through the years, Mr. Bernbaum spent hours each day juggling seating arrangements because his restaurant had only 19 tables, most of which barely accommodated four diners each.
Royalty, nobility and status names like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Brooke Astor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Bill Blass, Reinaldo and Carolina Herrera, and Nan Kempner were automatically assigned visibility -- 1B, the window table to the right of the door.
On the rare times when these luminaries were not present, Mr. Bernbaum had to make decisions that would stump Solomon. If there was a party of four or five ''known'' people, the table went to them. If there were more than one party of such rank, Mr. Bernbaum would reach back to his maxim: ''The trick in seating is not where they are but who they are surrounded by.''