"dean poll" news and stories

One of New York City's most famous restaurants, Tavern on the Green, which shut down earlier this year, is now in negotiations to reopen . . . as a snack bar, visitor's bureau and retail facility.

It's an admittedly plebian chapter in the restaurant's storied history, having been known throughout the world for its opulent dining areas and incandescent shrubbery. (Let it be said it was also famous for its inferior food, but patrons kept coming for its glitzy décor and Central Park location.)

New York's Tavern on the Green. Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

New York's historic Tavern on the Green has filed for bankruptcy just days after New York City awarded a new restaurateur the license to operate the Central Park eatery.

Jennifer Oz LeRoy, the chief executive of the restaurant, said the Chapter 11 filing is "our only alternative given the current situation." On Aug. 28, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation awarded Dean Poll a 20-year operating license for the space on the west side of Central Park. The LeRoy family has run the restaurant since the 1970s.

But will Tavern on the Green remain open in the interim?

New York's Tavern on the Green. Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

New York's historic Tavern on the Green may get a name change now that a new restaurateur will be running the space.

Dean Poll, who on Friday won a 20-year lease for the historic Central Park restaurant, says he may change the name of the iconic restaurant rather than lease the name from the previous restaurateur, Jennifer Oz LeRoy. Poll has said that while the name "has history," a new one would be "fresh," according to the Associated Press.

Shelley Clark, a spokeswoman for the LeRoy family, told Slashfood on Monday that "anything in this world is possible" in regards to the leasing of the name and that "the family is committed to the brand and determined it will have a future."