Located on the 107th floor of 1
World Trade Center (the north tower), the Windows on the World restaurant was a full quarter-mile into the air. Opened in 1976, the restaurant's large
picture windows offered a spectacular view of the city,
Manhattan harbor, flights arriving and departing the three local airports, and, on clear days, parts of Connecticut. Chef
Michael Lomonaco - seen on the
Discovery Channel and
Food Network - directed the
American-style culinary aspect of the restaurant, which offered both upscale and casual dining, dancing and live music, private
dining rooms and special events. The bar at Windows, which called itself the
Greatest Bar on Earth, featured amphitheater-style seating facing the outer windows and offered the restaurant's full menu, a full bar, and
sushi. The bar's
cover charge was just five dollars - significantly less than the thirteen dollars
tourists were charged to reach the building's
observation deck. Other restaurants on the same floor included the
WTC Club, which catered to the business
elite who worked in the building, and the
Cellar in the Sky.
Regrettably, the restaurant and many of its employees were lost on September 11, 2001 following a terrorist attack on the building. Michael Lomanaco and the restaurant's owner, David Emil, joined with the owners of other major restaurants to establish Windows of Hope, an organization formed to provide assistance, including funds and future scholarships, to the families of individuals who died working in the food, beverage, and hospitality locations throughout the WTC complex.
Sources
http://web.archive.org/web/20010803180908/windowsontheworld.com/wow/index.shtml
http://web.archive.org/web/20010803083543/www.nyctourist.com/topten_wtc.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/wtc1.html
http://www.windowsofhope.org/index.html