Off the Menu

Return of the Monkey Bar

Tallulah Bankhead, Joe DiMaggio, Tennessee Williams and Paul Douglas are just a few of the regulars who gave the Monkey Bar in the Elysee Hotel, 60 East 54th Street, its cachet. The cozy bar with its piano, paintings of cavorting monkeys and leopard-patterned carpet closed in 1992. It reopened Monday in an evocative and lively reinterpretation.

The space was leased by Penny and Peter Glazier, who own the Symphony Cafe and Bridgewaters in Manhattan, and two other partners. Along with David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, who was the architect, they dug through layers of history, discovering, for example, that the leopard carpet covered a 1950's parquet floor, which in turn had been laid over cobalt blue linoleum with a banana leaf pattern. They installed similar linoleum from France.

There are more monkeys than ever covering the walls of the bar, which opened in 1933. A few are originals from the 1950's. Monkeys were added from time to time. In 1986, Diane Vryentzie began painting new ones in the style and colors of the old. Now, she has restored and expanded the paintings.

The dining room, which once had a separate entrance off the hotel lobby, is now connected to the bar. The room has a sleek 1930's supper club feel with deep, muted colors and plush upholstery. Photographs of celebrities at the Monkey Bar as well as in other clubs like El Morocco are grouped here and there. A Hirschfeld caricature of Monkey Bar notables has been moved from the bar to the dining room.

John Schenk, the chef, who previously worked at West Broadway and Mad. 61, is serving plantain chips at the bar. In the dining room there are banana desserts, of course, along with inventive American food like barbecued squab with collards and red beans, and veal with a horseradish souffle.

In the evening, there is cocktail-party food like mini potato pancakes and cheese fondue at the bar. Main dishes at dinner are $16 to $26. The dining room and bar will be open for lunch in two weeks.

Leon Quain, who lives in the Elysee Hotel, which his father, Mayer, bought in 1936 for $473,000, said he was worried about how the Monkey Bar would turn out. No more. "They have given it the same esthetic feeling," he said. A Sports Planet

Robert Earl, the creator of the enormously successful Planet Hollywood restaurants in 15 cities around the world, has secured a home for his new restaurant with a sports theme. His All Star Cafe, a 35,000-square-foot space with more than 700 seats, will be one of the tenants at the Bertelsmann Building, 1540 Broadway, at 44th Street. "It will be the world's finest tribute to sport, with a theater in the round and arena food," Mr. Earl said.

By arena food, he said, he meant interpretations of things people eat at sporting events, like hot dogs, beer and nachos.

Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana are among sports figures rumored to be participating in this project. Mr. Earl wouldn't confirm any names, but he was willing to tease. When asked whether he would be working with Andre Agassi, he said: "That's a good idea. And don't forget that Shaquille O'Neal is my neighbor." Sparing Calories

Three chefs from the Royal Club Evian, the spa in Evian-les-Bains, France, are cooking at Cafe Botanica in the Nikko-Essex House, at 160 Central Park South (near Seventh Avenue), through Sept. 30. There is a three-course lunch totaling 411 calories and, even more of a miracle, a 580-calorie four-course dinner including filet of beef.

To make their modest portions thoroughly satisfying, the chefs -- Michel Lentz, Eric Redolat and Patrick Frenot -- use bouillons, fish, very lean meats and intense vegetable, vinegar and fruit-based sauces. The calorie counts have been verified by the spa's resident dietician.

The lunch costs $22, and the dinner, $28. The calorie counts do not include bread or wine.