Le Train Bleu, a gem of a restaurant in Bloomingdale’s flagship store is closing. Modeled after the dining car of the French luxury train, The Calais-Mediterranée Express which ran passengers from the north of France to the Riviera, the restaurant opened in 1979. Former Bloomingdale’s executive Marvin S. Traub is credited with transforming Bloomingdale’s “from a stodgy Upper East Side family department store into a trendsetting international showcase of style and showmanship,” which included adding this unique dining experience.
Although it looks like the inside of a train, the beloved restaurant never went anywhere. Stationary and built wider than a regular train car, Le Train Bleu is still able to relay the feeling of moving on the tracks in luxury with its mahogany paneling, velvet walls, deep-green interior, and Victorian style ceiling and lamps.
Le Train Bleu has been a part of the Manhattan experience for over 30 years and will be closing its doors for the last time on December 28, The New York Timesreports. As for what comes next, we’ll have to wait until 2018 to see. Anne Keating, a senior vice president of Bloomingdale’s explained “Everyone has special memories of the last 37 years. We look forward to welcoming something new in 2018.”
