Restaurant to close and reopen every season

A new restaurant recently opened on East 63rd Street at Park Avenue. Within three months, it will close. And reopen. And close. And reopen. With each season, what was formerly known as Park Avenue Café will be reborn as a new restaurant. Park Avenue Summer, as it’s currently named, is part of the Smith & Wollensky restaurant group and is supremely in tune with the seasons. While most restaurants adapt their menus to accommodate the available foods and prevailing moods of the time of year, Park Avenue takes seasonality to a new heights and will also completely revamp its décor, staff uniforms and place settings. Currently, waitresses wear sundresses, wall panels are yellow, and guests are served Lemon Sole and Peach Sorbet. The restaurant’s interior was created by design agency AvroKO, which took cues from theatre stage sets to help facilitate the transition to Park Avenue Autumn in September. The concept is an interesting combination of a still made here adherence to nature’s rhythms and of the appeal of anything short-lived (a.k.a. pop-up). Park Avenue Summer reminds us of InterContinental’s Hotel Indigo, which features mood elements that change to reflect the seasons. If you’re in hospitality, take a cue from the pioneers and see if you too can radically transform with the seasons, or with a more arbitrary timeline. Do it well, and customers will keep returning to experience your latest twists and turns. Spotted by: Salli Vates