'Top of the World' offers visitors a taste of NYC

Nation's Restaurant News,  June 2, 1997  

Tags: food, Starbucks Corp., World Trade Center

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Sbarro's, Nathan's and Starbucks in New York City are sitting on top of the world these days, literally.

They are the newly featured quickserve food concepts at the observation deck on the 107th floor of 2 World Trade Center. They were installed by Ogden Entertainment Services as part of a $6 million renovation of the observation deck, which is known by the moniker "Top Of the World."

Sbarro's and Nathan's opened April 30, along with a station, unofficially titled Coffee Island, which sells coffee and baked goods. Starbucks opened May 16 as a complement to Coffee Island.

In addition, there is a cart that sells a unique ice-cream novelty called Dipn' Dots and two beverage vending machines. Ogden also operates two novelty shops, one selling traditional New York City keepsakes and the other offering more unusual and one-of-a-kind items created by local artisans. The branded concepts replaced what Ogden general manager Charlie Theokas called "a traditional, belly-up concession stand" operated by a local concessionaire.

Ogden is a francisee of each of the food concepts. Theokas said that bringing in commercial operations was the only way to go. Ogden, which took over management of the observation deck from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1995, had undertaken the renovation of Top Of The World to compete more effectively with its smaller but more famous rival attraction, the Empire State Building.

After receiving an 11-year management lease from he Port Authority, Ogden worked with Dellmont Leisure International, La Crescenta, Calif., to design a "theme park" that would capture the essence of the nation's largest city.

Among the attractions added to entertain visitors are a six-minute simulated helicopter ride over the city, 24 video kiosks -- six at each of the four banks of windows outlining the deck -- that give details in six languages about what visitors can see from the windows, and floor-to-ceiling murals of several of the city's neighborhoods and landmarks, such as South Street Seaport, Wall Street, SoHo and Chinatown.

The food area, which is called "Sbarro Street Station," is modeled after a New York City subway station and railroad car. Customers take their purchases over to "Central Park," a tree-lined, 100-seat dining area that is themed after New York's greenest landmark. "Visitors obviously don't come up here for the food," Theokas noted. "But while they're here, we want to be able to offer them the chance to sit, eat and relax."

"The foodservice that was here before did a fine job, but it just got old," added Richard Costa, food and beverage manager for Ogden. "We thought there was much more potential up here."

"Everybody is going branded, and there's a reason for it," he explained. "The names are recognizable and are associated with quality. Seventy percent of the people who come here are onetime visitors. We can't ever assume someone is coming back, so we have only one opportunity to make a good impression."

Costa acknowledged that because most people come only once to the observation deck, Ogden easily could have given short shrift to foodservice. However, he pointed out that there is more than Ogden's reputation on the line with the new facilities.

"We are very conscious of the fact that it is not just our name visitors see but Sbarro's and Nathan's and Starbucks," he noted. "Those are names these people will come in contact with again and again. And it may sound trite, but we also want the view we present of New York City to be positive."

Costa said that in addition to the regular visitor traffic, Ogden also caters to groups seeking to rent the observation deck for private parties. He hesitated to estimate the number of catered functions Ogden may do this year "because the word is just getting out about our catering."

However, he said, the invitation-only party that Ogden threw April 30 to celebrate the grand opening of Top Of the World already has resulted in two Christmas parties being booked.

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