Windows on the World, established on the 107th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1976, was instrumental in transforming Lower Manhattan into a dining destination. Before its opening, the area was perceived as unsafe, with widespread graffiti and a struggling Wall Street. Co-founder Michael Whiteman, who partnered with restaurateur Joe Baum, noted the city's dire state in the early 1970s.
The restaurant's launch came at a time when New York City was facing bankruptcy and public skepticism about the World Trade Center itself, which was often criticized as an architectural eyesore. Windows on the World quickly became a success, achieving the highest grossing revenue in the country by 2000, with annual sales of $37 million in its final year of operation. Its initial success helped to reframe public perception of the towers from symbols of waste to objects of affection.
After a 1993 terrorist attack caused its closure, Windows on the World was reinvented and reopened in 1996. The original team included notable figures like designer Milton Glaser, food experts James Beard and Barbara Kafka, and architect Warren Platner. Jacques Pépin later contributed to developing the commissary. The restaurant's innovative menu and high-profile team solidified its status as a culinary landmark, offering a diverse array of dishes and pioneering concepts like fixed-price dinners with wine pairings and small plates, which later became known as "grazing." Its impact extended beyond dining, placing women in high-paying, visible roles in an industry often resistant to such changes. The restaurant required an initial investment of $17 million, equivalent to about $90 million today.
