La Caravelle (New York City)

La Caravelle

The restaurant in 2004, shortly before closing.
La Caravelle Location in Manhattan Show map of Manhattan La Caravelle La Caravelle (New York City) Show map of New York City La Caravelle La Caravelle (New York) Show map of New York
Address	33 West 55th Street New York City
Coordinates	40°45′45″N 73°58′35″W / 40.76250°N 73.97639°W / 40.76250; -73.97639
Owner	Fred Decré and Robert Meyzen (original)
Opened	September 21, 1960 (1960-09-21)
Closed	May 22, 2004 (2004-05-23)

La Caravelle was a restaurant in New York City, specializing in French cuisine. It opened on September 21, 1960, at 33 West 55th Street in Manhattan.^[1][2] The restaurant was established by Fred Decré and Robert Meyzen, with Roger Fessaguet as head chef, and took its name from the type of sailing ships Christopher Columbus sailed on his voyages to the New World. Like most European restaurants, La Caravelle had a menu that changed daily.^[3] This made the restaurant popular with new customers and also brought them back regularly. Salvador Dalí, John Lindsay, Leland Hayward, Walter Cronkite and Dorothy Kilgallen often dined at the restaurant in its early years. President John F. Kennedy was especially fond of La Caravelle's vichyssoise and chicken in champagne sauce, and he often requested them as takeout orders to eat on the plane while traveling.

Twenty years after its opening, chef Roger Fessaguet left the kitchen to become an owner with Meyzen due to the retirement of Fred Decré. In 1984, Robert Meyzen retired and Fessaguet and André Jammet took over ownership of the restaurant. The following year, a New York Magazine article cited it as one of the best restaurants in New York City, and mentioned that most guidebooks gave it their highest rating. Fessaguet retired in 1988, leaving ownership with Jammet and his wife. The Jammets redecorated La Caravelle in 1990, replacing the original red carpets and banquettes with a color scheme of green and peach. Artist Nina Duran was hired to create a small mural for the restaurant's foyer. The restaurant closed on May 22, 2004, despite garnering the James Beard Foundation's Most Outstanding Restaurant in the Country award in the same year. The name is now known for champagnes produced by the Jammets; the restaurant began serving them as its house brand in 1997.