Lafayette

Lafayette was a French restaurant in New York City located at 202 East 50th Street. It was established in 1965 and closed in the late 1970s. W magazine referred to it in 1972, as one of "Les Six, the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York." The other five named were La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Quo Vadis, and Lutèce; of these, only La Grenouille remains open. In its heyday the restaurant was known for the quality of its cuisine, its celebrity clientele, and the legendary rudeness of its proprietor, Jean Fayet. History The Lafayette was established in 1965 by two former employees of Le Pavillon, Jean Fayet (its former saucier and captain of waiters) and his wife Jacqueline (its former cashier). The Lafayette had a seating capacity of 50 and an intimate decor, with a fireplace surrounded by French tiles, copper tubs filled with dried flowers and artificial plants, and walls covered in red, blue and yellow striped fabric. The waiters were dressed in military-style blue tail coats with red piping. In his review of the restaurant shortly after it opened, Craig Claiborne, noted that the only jarring note in the decor was the "plethora of plastic greenery". The Lafayette's choicest table, where Jackie Kennedy often sat, was hidden around the corner of the blue-striped bar. The restaurant's popularity surged in December 1966 when Women's Wear Daily stationed a photographer outside to capture Jackie and her sister Lee Radziwill leaving the restaurant with Jackie wearing a skirt two inches above the knee. According to Nora Ephron, the photos were reprinted in virtually every American newspaper. Truman Capote and his friends were regular diners at the Lafayette as were Marion Javits, Aileen Mehle and Phyllis and Bennett Cerf whose publishing company Random House was across the street from the Lafayette. Jean Fayet refused to accept credit cards, although he would allow selected customers to have charge accounts, and had very definite views about the way his customers should dress and behave, views which he did not hesitate to express or enforce. In March 1970, Gael Greene wrote a scathing review of the Lafayette in New York Magazine entitled "Lafayette, We are Leaving!" in which she chronicled the owner's legendary rudeness.