Famed NYC steakhouse uses Audrey Hepburn, Al Roker wax figures to keep indoor diners socially distanced
Audrey Hepburn is swapping breakfast at Tiffany's for steak and martinis at Peter Luger — all in the name of social distancing.
The famed steakhouse, a Brooklyn institution since 1887, has announced that it will be using celebrity wax figures on loan from Madame Tussauds to keep indoor diners safely spaced out in its restaurant amid the pandemic. Effective Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will allow New York City restaurants to have a 35-percent occupancy, paving the way for Peter Luger's original Williamsburg location to roll out the red carpet to some A-list clientele in hopes of filling empty seats and providing a buffer between actual human guests.
The wax figures chosen represent some connection to New York City, either real or fictional. Audrey Hepburn's Manhattan party girl Holly Golightly leans over a bread basket at her table, while Jon Hamm (aka Mad Men's Don Draper) holds court with a cocktail at the bar. Two Rockefeller Plaza fixtures — Today's Al Roker and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon — are also featured. The former stands at the staircase directing diners upstairs, while Fallon patiently sits at a table, waiting to pay his bill.
The Madame Tussauds figures will be on display until Monday, March 1.
"The restaurant industry is vital to New York City's economy, and it's been particularly hard hit this past year," Daniel Turtel, vice president of Peter Luger, says in a press release. "We're excited to welcome diners back indoors at 35 percent, and thought this would be a fun, safe way to fill some of the seats that need to remain empty as we continue to fight the pandemic. It has been wonderful working with the fabulous team at Madame Tussauds New York."
Peter Luger — which has a second location in Great Neck, Long Island — isn't the first restaurant to use inanimate figures as a social distancing measure. Last year the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains made headlines for using mannequins styled in 1940s attire to pad out its sparsely populated dining room.
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