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Article: At Wit's Inn; New York's Algonquin Hotel Turns a Page as It Turns 100
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 20, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The Smithsonian should put a bid on Chuck Shah. He stands in his
black cutaway major-domo jacket -- neat, observant and museum-ready:
a real-thing New York waiter in a timeless New York lobby. It could
be a diorama of Old Manhattan, except Shah -- no dummy -- is serving
real food and the air is redolent of onion soup.
"Right here where you're sitting was the New Yorker table," Shah
says, handing over a Caesar salad. "The editor, Mr. William Shawn, he
ate lunch here every day, working and meeting people."
And before Shawn, it was New Yorker founder Harold Ross who for
decades used this table as a second office. "They were all very
nice," says Shah. "Except after Tina Brown took over. I ...