I didn't take my camera with me on the night of the dinner since one of the guests said she would bring hers (a much better camera than my out-dated one), and I assumed she would be taking photos of the group.
I went back to Kennedy's Restaurant the following day to take the photos below. There were many things I liked about the back room, called The Library, where we had the dinner, including the gold and red wallpaper, the Christmas wreaths, the paneled walls, the lace curtains on the doors, and of course the bookshelves.
Here is how the restaurant's website describes The Library:
[T]he intimately elegant Library beckons for private events. Kennedy’s and the JFK Grill Room, a winning and winsome marriage of two time-honored New York City institutions – the Irish pub and traditional steakhouse – in the heart of midtown Manhattan’s vibrant West Side.It is a warm and inviting place.
Below are the photos I took:
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Christmas decoration and lightly glowing sconces on gold and red wallpaper.
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I'm not sure if these are Irish lace, but they provided an intimate, and aesthetic, cover from the loud pub out front.
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I didn't use my flash for this photo, but let the light from the room lighten up the picture. I think the shelves are of cherry wood, and that warm reddish color gives added intimacy and warmth.
This is how the room looked when we were there.
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I used the camera's flash to take this photo.
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The shelves still have the deep reddish hue even with the bright flash.
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I looked on the bookshelf, and I found a book on JFK: Kennedy Justice by Victor S. Navasky.
Here is what Amazon.com writes about the book:
Nowhere was the clash between idealism and expediency that characterized the Kennedy brothers more apparent during their years in power than at the crossroads of the American legal system, the Department of Justice. This story of how the moral measure of their leadership was most severely tested - how boldly were imperiled liberties championed; how effectively were overlords of corruption prosecuted; how wisely were judges picked; how well, in short, was justice served - has never been told before. Until this book.Wikipedia has more on Navasky here, including this:
In 2005, Navasky was named chairman of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR). This appointment engendered some controversy; as Navasky's name did not appear on the masthead, critics on the political right saw this as hiding that, despite the magazine's purported lack of political bias, a "major left-wing polemicist is calling the shots at CJR without any mention on the masthead."
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The ceiling in The Library had these stained glass square panels on top. I think they were lit from inside.
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[All photos by KPA]