NO MONKEY BIZ?
Carter calls it quits at famed eatery
Graydon Carter’s 12-year stint at the helm of Monkey Bar has come to an end.
The celebrity magazine editor — who ended his 25-year run at Vanity Fair 2½ years ago — has handed over the keys to the famous Midtown eatery, leaving its fate up in the air, The Post has learned.
Carter, along with the rest of New York City’s restaurateurs, was forced by a stateordered coronavirus lockdown to shutter the posh hangout in March. A representative on Wednesday said he wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The 71-year-old muckraker and his business partner Jeff Klein have decided to call it quits with just a few years left on the lease, deciding that the costs and hassles of reopening wouldn’t be worth it, according to sources.
Klein also owns the City Club Hotel on West 44th Street.
Richard Born, who owns the Hotel Elysée at 60 E. 54th St. — Monkey Bar’s home for the past 84 years — likewise owns the intellectual property of the iconic restaurant, famous for its art-deco decor and all things “Monkey,” including the lamps, murals and dishes.
Nevertheless, Born said he isn’t focused on Monkey Bar at the moment, as he needs to first reopen the Elysée.
Another source familiar with the eatery noted that high-end restaurants are facing higher hurdles than casual restaurants to reopen.
“I believe Monkey Bar will reopen, but it won’t be exactly the same,” Born told
The Post.
Indeed, Monkey Bar may never pack in as many celebrities as it used to, say its ardent fans.
“A lot of celebrities don’t go to Midtown, but Graydon Carter brought them there,” said Jeremy Murphy, a former CBS executive who runs his own public-relations firm, 360bespoke.
“The Condé Nast sheen and media presence made it something special and that would be missing without him.”
Just last November, Carter held a bash at the eatery to celebrate the book “Life Isn’t Everything: Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of his Closest Friends.”
In attendance to fete the late Hollywood director and actor were Candice Bergen, Christine Baranski, Barry Diller and Peter Gallagher.
At Monkey Bar’s height under Carter, reservations were notoriously difficult to score, partly because most seats were reserved for his famous friends. At one point, the eatery installed a separate phone line for reservations — but only for lunch guests.
Like many fine-dining restaurants during the pandemic, Monkey Bar never reopened after it closed in March. Carter gave notice about a month ago, Born said.
Carter owns another clubby restaurant in the Big Apple, The Waverly Inn at 16 Bank St. in the West Village, which will reopen on Aug. 13 for dinner service, according to its OpenTable page.