Oak Bar
The Plaza Hotel
10 Central Park South at Fifth Ave
Tel. 212-758-7777
Subway: N, R, W to Fifth Ave–59th St.
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Reservations: No
Opening Hours: Open Daily : Noon – 2:00am
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Expensive

As of the latter part of 2008, The Oak Bar is once again open for business with the original bar and wood paneling along with artist Everett Shinn’s original murals of Central Park on winter evenings, still intact; in spite of the trouble-ridden reopening after the Plaza Hotel’s major renovation, and is once again buzzing with activity. Gone are the confident, knowledgeable and time-hardened staff and along with them the deft mixologists of the past, this is unfortunate, although not unexpected! In the past, I frequently had a drink in the early evening at the Oak Bar, which in those days was a smoky, predominantly male, after-office meeting place or in later years, I walked across the plaza to the small and crowded Harry Cipriani bar that offered a more cosmopolitan and international crowd in addition to the excellent Italian dishes available.
For dining, The Oak Room was never an option, as it offered mediocre hotel-food at over-inflated prices and that trend has only worsened since kosher restaurateur, Joey Allaham entered the picture as it’s guiding hand although, a new chef, Eric Hara, started on March 18th, 2009.