It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 1922 at The Plaza Hotel. The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star New York landmark will light its ’20s-inspired Great Gatsby tree on November 26 and, like The Plaza itself, this holiday tree is bedecked with some serious hardware and quite the Hollywood pedigree.
Catherine Martin, production designer for Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming The Great Gatsby film and two-time Oscar winner for her design work on Moulin Rouge!, created the 18-foot tree’s look using 100 pounds of glass, gold and silver ornaments plus floating snowflakes for movement and sparkle. It’s a fittingly over-the-top homage to author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a frequent Plaza patron who set a pivotal Great Gatsby scene in one of the hotel’s suites and even once jumped into the fountain outside the hotel with wife Zelda.
You can watch Martin illuminate her gilded creation at a tree-lighting tea in The Palm Court and Fifth Avenue Foyer next Monday. In addition to a front-row seat for the unveiling, you will enjoy The Palm Court’s new “Fitzgerald Tea for the Ages” menu — highlights include curried lobster salad with local apple, pâte de fruit with gin rickey sugar, Jazz Age chocolate bonbons and a champagne toast (with mocktails for the little ones). For reservations, call 212-546-5300 or email palmcourt@fairmont.com.
If you can’t make it to the tree lighting, you’ll be happy to know that the Fitzgerald tea menu is a permanent addition to The Palm Court’s offerings. And Mr. Fitzgerald would be happy to know that a Great Gatsby cocktail menu will also debut there later this season.
Photos Courtesy of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
