Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel

Dorothy Parker and her brilliant and witty friends: Robert Sherwood, Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott and Edna Ferber frequented the Algonquin Hotel and formed the core of the famous Round Table. Their strict admission standards would bar all of us. However, in its dedication to Algonquin lore, the hotel set up a Round Table Club that anyone can join. For an application call Karen Kincaid, 212-840-6800.

The hotel's Oak Room was selected by New York magazine as "the best cabaret venue in New York City." Our favorite among the ever- changing cast of stars who perform there is Andrea Marcovicci. Don't fret if you missed her in `96, her ninth appearance in the intimate oak-panelled room, in a medley of songs and stories, "A Tribute to Ruth Etting." You can catch her each season between mid-November and early January.

Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036. Tel. 212-840-6800. Tuesday to Saturday. Dinner at 7 p.m. Show at 9 p.m. Music charge, and food or drink minimum. www.thealgonquin.net/OakRoom/schedule_rates.htm

Spring 1997