49459 SOM145

Palio Restaurant

Design/Completion 1986 New York, New York, USA Equitable Irwestment Corporation 10,000 square feet

The main entrance to the Palio is through the ground-level bar, a grand room richly paneled with European bog oak. The bar itself is a slab of dark Roncevalles marble with a honed finish set above chrome-framed, stainless Steel mesh panels.

The slats of the bar chairs and the staccato pattern of the black and white marble floor echo similar motifs in Sandro Chia’s Nco-Expressionist mural over the dado, which depicts the medieval Sienese race aftcr which the restaurant is named.

The dining room is reached by private elevator and seats 120 with two private rooms for 40. A decorative scheme that includes Arts and Crafts-inspired wooden screens, translucent honey onyx panels, and SOM’s Andover chairs creates a sedate and elegant setting enhanced by appointments designed by Massimo Vignelli. Vividly colored heraldic symbols representing the 17 contrade, or wards, of the City of Siena hang on the walls.

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