Al Di Meglio
The Walls Are Glowing!
James Hamilton
Migraine alert: The light boxes adorning Olana’s main dining room are not exactly subtle.
What would Frederic Edwin Church make of the landscapes that dominate Olana’s main dining room?
In the late 1800s, the painter built the restaurant’s namesake, a landmark mansion upstate with famously spectacular views overlooking the Hudson. Olana, the restaurant, sits on a less than spectacular stretch of lower Madison Avenue. The landscapes, on huge illuminated light boxes, are done in harsh computer-generated colors that cast a flat, eerie glow: Church on acid. But like many things in this restaurant, they have a quirky charm. read more »
