HELL'S KITCHEN, Manhattan (PIX11) -- How do you thank someone who has encouraged and nurtured performers and theater lovers at his restaurant for close to half a century? You stand up and applaud Steve Olsen for the restaurant he created, West Bank Cafe.
That’s exactly what happened Sunday night.
West Bank Cafe owner Steve Olsen was being toasted and feted for the restaurant he created 46 years ago in 1978. Olsen turned a humble corner on 42nd and Ninth Avenue into a legendary hub for performers and theater lovers.
But now the 70-year-old Olson is retiring and turning the reins of his restaurant over to Broadway producer Tom D’Angora. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Steve Olsen said to the applauding crowd once the applause died down. “To everybody in this room to everyone we touched and who touched us over the last 46 years in business,” he added.
For close to five decades, Olsen encouraged artists to try out new material in the downstairs theater. Joan Rivers did 200 sets here Comedian Lewis Black was a playwright in residence along with the late composer Rusty Magee.
“I was as happy down there as I have been anywhere in my career,” Black told PIX11 News.
On closing night close to one hundred customers came back to thank Olsen.
Chita Rivera’s daughter even sat at her mother’s favorite table. “My mom had her 80th birthday party here,” Lisa Mordente, Rivera’s daughter, told PIX11 News.
“Walking in and seeing friends, being treated like a VIP, it’s a cheers-like place,” Annie Golden, the actress, told PIX11 News.
“I am very excited that continue the storied legacy,” Tom D’Angora, the new owner of West Bank Cafe, told PIX11 News. “We will keep this as a home for the theater community, the Hell’s Kitchen community, and everything in between,” he added.
The West Bank Cafe, under new management, is expected to reopen in mid-January.
