Gino Restaurant Back Then

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Gino, the old world Italian restaurant and Lexington and 60th, which is due to close in a week's time, has always seemed to have a friend at the New York Times. The Grey Lady has covered the joint's long-extracted demise with care and concern over the past two years. This is in keeping with tradition. Gino, it seems, has never been neglected by the paper. You'll find mentions of the place going back to the 1950s, when it was actually a hot place where stars hung out.

One of my favorites in the Times archive is a 1969 article by Enid Nemy entitled "Restaurants Cave In Before the Pants Suit Onslaught." It was about which of the city's best restaurants were willing to brook the horror of seating women dressed in pants. Gino, we're happy to see, landed in the progressive "yes" column, along with The Colony, Four Seasons, Keen's, Le Veau d'Or, La Grenouille, Lutece and Le Pavillon.

"That's the new style," said a Gino spokesman. "You don't know who is who anymore." (My favorite comment came from La Caravelle, which added with haste, "But we don't allow turtle necks." Turtleneck sweaters seem to have been held in equally low esteem at the time.)

Those who fell in the "no" column included La Cote Basque, Lafayette and Restaurant Laurent. Then there were the fence-sitters in the "maybe" column. "No pants suits at lunch," said the "21" Club. "Attractive and flowing evening pants at night if they look like a gown."