Harry’s Table, Cipriani’s Big Italian Eatery, Prepares to Open in September at Waterline Square

In September, Cipriani will finally open Harry’s Table — its 28,000-square-foot food hall at Waterline Square on the west side. Yesterday, the paper that had shrouded the windows throughout the pandemic was taken down and the windows were being cleaned, ready for a late summer opening.

The cavernous eatery was announced back in February 2019 with a planned opening date of July or August of that year, according to the West Side Rag at the time.

The Eataly-like project is called Harry’s Table in a hat tip to the original Cipriani 1931 venture in Venice, Harry’s Bar. It will feature specialty counters including a coffee bar, a gelato and pastry shop, a pizza bar, pasta lab, fish counter, and a butcher’s counter. A full bar inspired by the glamorous days of mid-century Italy, featuring timber paneling, leather stools and sleek light fixtures, takes a central role in the space, and a more formal restaurant faces the waterfront. A retail component will include a selection of high-quality Italian and local products.

Waterline Square spans W59th and W61st Streets on the far west side — and has started to draw in locals from Hell’s Kitchen below it and the Upper West Side above it. There is a full range of free programming in the public plaza and park that includes yoga, live music and movie nights.

When Harry’s Table opens its doors, residents of the luxury complex will be given the options of room service, house accounts and a “Cipriani food concierge.” Opening hours are still to be confirmed, but they plan to be open seven days a week.

The Ciprianis have a 90-year history of luxury hospitality worldwide. On May 13, 1931, Giuseppe Cipriani opened Harry’s Bar in Venice. It became the place where writers, painters, artists, aristocrats, kings and queens would meet. Among them there were Barbara Hutton, Katherine Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Giancarlo Menotti, Peggy Guggenheim, Orson Welles, Frank Lloyd Wright, Joe di Maggio, Truman Capote and Ernest Hemingway. The family heritage includes the invention of Carpaccio and the Bellini cocktail.

The original bar was “Fifteen feet by thirty,” according to Guiseppe Senior. “it was the cordage warehouse. I liked it at once because it was at the end of a dead-end street. The customers would have to come there on purpose, and couldn’t just stop in as they were passing by. I wanted a simple, elegant place with two essential features: the customer must not feel oppressed by the décor and there had to be light.” His wishes live on in a space 60 times larger!

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