 |
OTTO,
which means “eight” in Italian, opened its
doors January 2003. Modeled after an Italian train station,
OTTO is located on 8th Street, in the historic One Fifth
Avenue building.
One
Fifth Avenue was built in 1927 and opened its doors
New Years Day 1928. Now an apartment tower, it was originally
a hotel with nearly 200 residential suites. When Prohibition
ended in 1934, the hotel opened a sidewalk café
and cabaret known as Number One Bar. Martini-drinking
patrons toasted the end of World War II as homecoming
troops marched down Fifth Avenue.
New
York University bought the space in 1966 and used it
as faculty and student housing. In 1975, the building
was sold to a co-op sponsor during the depths of the
real estate depression. A fabulous restaurant occupied
the hotel dining room then, remodeling the space with
art-deco pieces from the aging luxury liner S.S. Caronia.
Since then, several restaurants have come and gone,
including a steakhouse, a chain eatery, and most recently,
Clementine. In 2002, Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali
took up the lease with their Italian enoteca and pizzeria.
Residents
have always considered a good restaurant to be one of
One Fifth Avenue’s special delights. With our
classic Italian pizza, pasta, extensive wine selection, and
warm atmosphere, OTTO carries on the tradition.
|
