Unlocking Ultra-Luxury with Managing Director Luigi Romaniello on the Grand Reopening of the Waldorf Astoria New York

Set to reopen after a seven-year restoration, the Waldorf Astoria New York is poised to redefine ultra-luxury hospitality. In this episode, Managing Director Luigi Romaniello takes us through the journey of bringing the Waldorf Astoria back to life, from restoring storied frescoes and architectural details to creating highly personalized experiences for today’s sophisticated travelers. He shares his philosophy on ultra-luxury, emphasizing service precision, meaningful guest connections, and the challenge of meeting modern expectations while preserving the hotel’s legendary charm.  

For anyone fascinated by hospitality, architecture or New York’s history, this conversation unveils the layers of passion and detail behind the Waldorf’s remarkable revival. 

The “Distinguished” podcast is produced by Boston University School of Hospitality Administration.

Host: Arun Upneja, Dean
Producer: Mara Littman, Director of Corporate and Public Relations
Sound Engineer and Editor: Andrew Hallock
Graphic Design: Rachel Hamlin, Marketing Manager

Music: “Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Transcript

Arun: Welcome to Distinguished podcast, brought to you by the School of Hospitality Administration at Boston University, where we delve into the art of luxury, the power of innovation, and the leaders shaping the future of hospitality. I'm your host, Arun Upneja, Dean of the school, and today we have a truly special episode lined up. One that will intrigue anyone curious about the future of luxury hotels. We are honored to be joined by Luigi Romaniello, Managing Director of the legendary Waldorf Astoria NY. After seven years of painstaking restoration, one of the world's most iconic hotels is on the brink of a grand reopening. Setting new benchmarks for elegance and guest experience. In this episode, we'll immerse ourselves in the world of luxury about the iconic Waldorf Astoria will explore its ambitious new direction and discuss what it really means to redefine luxury in the modern world. So whether you are a seasoned hospitality expert, a real estate aficionado, or simply captivated by the blend of history and cutting edge innovation, this conversation promises to be a fascinating journey, so let's get started. Luigi, welcome to the Distinguished podcast.  

Luigi: Thank you, Arun, and thank you very much for the opportunity to have me in this conversation and to be here at Boston University, such a treat. So I'm very honored to be here.  

Arun: Fantastic. Welcome. And you know, I vividly remember the day it was announced in 2017 that the Waldorf was closing for many years. And I immediately looked up in my database and I found that I had eight of my alumni working in the Waldorf at that point. So of course I immediately called them up and I said OK what help do you need? They said Elton has been very kind and generous and very open. So it was great. They all got good positions. But now that the opening is insight and we are thrilled to reignite this relationship between our school and the Waldorf, which we have built over the many years, many of our students have found opportunities and they've built the foundations of their careers at your iconic institution, so I'm thrilled to continue that legacy with you, Luigi.  

Luigi: Thank you so much, Aaron. I appreciate that. And I do, I mean, I do see that as a because we're ushering a new era for the world of our story in New York, and it goes really well with the new spirit of the you know, of the graduates and the seniors that they're full of ambition and I want to join an incredible opportunity and I think I'm also here to also see if some of them are willing to come to us, you know, so the results a little bit of an agenda on my part, you know, to try to get some of your students who to come up and be at the Waldorf.   

Arun: I'm sure there's gonna be no such issue. OK, so let's dive right in. I know that the Waldorf has undergone a $1 billion multi-year renovation since it’s disclosure in 2017 and I know that a part of the historic guest rooms were converted into luxury condominiums. So can you walk us through the vision behind this transformation and some of the standout features that blend the hotel's iconic history with modern design?   

Luigi: It has been an incredible journey and an incredible commitment. Of course, you know. And yes, there has been seven years in the making, but I would have to tell you we went from 1400 room, imagine a 1400 room hotel, to basically 375 rooms and 375 residences. So basically half of the inventory, meaning that you know, attention about the detail, the size of the rooms is they're much bigger now. And so all of that are going to make it for real, real special, special reopening. One thing that people don't realize though is that, it's not just a reopening, as if in like a normal renovation, this is a complete restoration project, I mean, this and coming from the old World, you know, coming from Rome and myself, I have a certain appreciation to see, you know, when you have all these people artist that do the trade very well you know whether they are working with plaster or metal and looking at all the detail of reliving all the frescoes that we had. We have fresco from the 1890s for, when the original World of Australia used to be, you know where the Empire State Building is now, you know at the Interior Street and 5th Ave. where those Frisco were moved into the world of today and now they've been completely renovated. So it's been just an incredible, meticulous attention to a restoration project. So very, very exciting.  

Arun: I guess the detail is part of the luxury experience that you have all of this historic frescoes that now, you know you're displaying them in the hotel, so how do the architectural and the design teams navigate this, you know, old blend of old and the new, you know the how do you kind of cater to the tastes of today's travelers while continuing to preserve at least some aspects of the?  

Luigi: No, actually that's a very good question because you don't just restore the wall over storage, just, you know casually, you know, you have to really keep the integrity of, you know, of the past and actually we are very much landmark protected. You know there's a landmark Commission and in New York City that guide us into really following all the details of the original Waldorf. It was which was in 1921. You know, in the particular location. And with that, you know there has been an incredible commitment from our two designers. Been Jean Louis, the denoise, the did the residences. And of course you know Pierre River Roshan. They did all our hotel in the public areas and two of them are, you know, that epic designers and the way they narrated and the way their vision was, you know, it was to respect the of course you know the glory of the past and the grandeur and the opulence of the past. So you're gonna walk in you're gonna see all of these details coming back to life but very original the way was to be 1931 and yet infuse and blend in a lot of these sophisticated modern touches. Contemporary torches, you know that they are done to the furnishing, you know, accessories and things like that. But at the end, everything has been even at the wood and all of that has been used. They use a lot of reclaim the materials because they purposely didn't reuse new material. So that when you walk in the world, you almost don't know what's new, what's old. It kind of blends so well together. That you feel like you are. You're getting back all of that experience, but in a much more, you know, fresh and, you know, a contemporary way.  

Arun: That's amazing. So this on one side is this construction, that innovation which you are now using, all the old some of the old materials, but new looking old material. So now let's pivot to the service. So luxury hospitality means different things to different people, in different regions, different age groups across generations and cultures. And all the hotels they kind of look at what their customer base is and they operationalize it differently. So tell us what does luxury mean to Waldorf Astoria?  

Luigi: You know you're at the row. I mean, it's like a luxury, as you know. There are so many levels of luxury these days, right? And but I like to believe the luxury are our level. You know, we world of us are coming back. We are certainly on the ultra-luxury space, I would say, meaning that you know we are no longer focused on the obvious on the things that you are expecting from a luxury experience. You know the coming into your hotel, you are wonderful high pressure, great air conditioning, wonderful service food is incredible. Yes, I get all of that. But at the end, you know the two that consumer especially you know the real affluent travelers, you know, they're looking for a lot of the personalization into the experience and this is what Waldorf Astoria, NY will provide. I mean, we are very focused on customizing and the experience for every guest. So whether you don't feel like one or many, do you feel very, very individual. We really get to we understand what you like. You know of course without talking we understand a little bit about you and we're pushing the right buttons so that there is a sense of like, you know, you paid attention to me, and you know me and it feels really good that you pay attention. You took the time to do that. So we really insist into that because I think that is tomorrow's Ultra luxury really, the future of Ultrasure is going to be all in personalization and customization and making really the guest feel individual.  

Arun: So in a way when you went from 1400 rooms to 375, you must be happy because it's so difficult to provide that kind of customization and personalization for 1400 guest rooms. I mean where is the ultra-luxury with that many rooms?   

Luigi: 1400 rooms, you know, back in the days, they used to have these opulent palaces, you know, and it was a different level of luxury. I mean, of course, grandeur and all the center around the big ballroom, and the opulence itself, you know, made for that, but you know, but the hotel industry evolved in time and now we are getting more and more to the attention to detail more, more than ever. And you arrive with 375 room. We're going to be able to certainly provide, you know, the, you know, the high sense of touch, you know, even the touch points when to surprise and to light the lighter guests when they come in and during their stay paying attention to the gas and make them feel special. Are the ones that are really gonna rise to the top.  

Arun: So to provide that kind of service, you really need to have the right kind of staff and then you need to give them the right kind of training. So what is your thinking behind how do you train that staff? How do you recruit them? And you know, so that they can deliver the kind of service that you are envisioning.  

Luigi: Critical. Absolutely critical that we have our team members. The way we interview are now and by the way, we need to interview. We are now having to add up to 600 team members. If you can imagine right now we already have the disability Community level, some department heads sells them, but as we get closer to the opening, we're going to have some, some, some great hiring and you know with that we're looking for the natural ability, the natural talent for us is like really the ability to really conversate, to engage when I interview someone, I like to say the level of engagement. When you finish your sentences, they when you talk, you know you're having tell me a little bit of a story. Sometimes I don't even ask technical question. I just want to get to know you, you know, an interview and we let the person that really knows. The rest is affinity of connecting, you know and great smile on their face. You know also with the body language. You know the way they present themselves, the way they talk. Those are very, very important qualities that we're looking for especially the line staff level you know because they have the direct contact with the guests so. So I get a lot into this engagement. And then, of course, you know, when it comes down to these legacy management, you know we like to see a minimum of experience. You know in Ultra luxury environment because you must understand, you know when you set the tone to be the leader in in Ultra luxury. You are to also be very innovative and very creative, and you cannot be a copycat and copy whatever other brands are doing so. We like to really lead the way into creating new experiential, you know, experiences that the guests you know really like. And so for that, you know some of the interview will include like what are you passionate about? Tell me even individual. Are you a good consumer? I mean, you know, if it's food and beverage, I like to ask, you know, what is your favorite restaurant you like to go to and tell me about something about your favorite drink or your, you know, because to me one makes a great hotelier is a is really a great consumer to start with. You must be passionate about what you like. And because we have to teach a forward right, we have to right make other the gas feel like, Oh my gosh, this is the expert. I'm walking into a place where the food and beverage director is an expert. And it's surprising me every, you know, with the mixology, you know, with the with the breakfast, with this, you know, because it's especially something different. So, you know, talent to us is super important natural talent and some technical and also experienced luxury talent.  

Arun: So I'm assuming you're being very well. So like you said, you're being very careful and very selective in terms of your hiring.  

Luigi: Yes, we are interviewed like just for one position sometimes we find ourselves interviewing like 20-30 different candidates now also because you know, they coined us as the greatest of them all right. And this was Colorado Hilton and all that. And we have a, you know, certainly this ambition, you know, to really reset, you know, the, you know also the town from New York City and a lot of people are waiting for this. So we cannot just open it casually as you can imagine. We have to have all the talent that really inspires and presents something a little bit different, like for example, in room dining, we cannot just do in room dining. Waldorf Astoria in Ramadan was invented in the world of Astoria. You know, because we were the first hotel that we had and suite bathrooms and the telephones and it full electricity. Believe it or not, back in the days, those were, they were not Givens and the combination of all of that, you know, made for the GM back in the days. By the way, my muse, his name is Oscar Chesky, and this gentleman did so much for the Waldorf DNA I have to say. And he said when we deliver food into the room, you know and back then he delivered with a tray and that's how in room dining and room service was born. And now we're reopening the hotel. I said, do I want to do just some normal room dining? I don't know it. You know, it requires a lot of thoughts, you know. And so we are we are again to surprise in the light bring back something different when we pretty open.  

Arun: You know. So at the when I used to work at the Taj in Mumbai, yes, there was a time when I worked in the room service. So I'm sad to see the room service in most hotels has disappeared. People just, you know, send stuff up and you know, disposable containers and they just sad to see. So I'm so happy that you're going to be so focused on in-room dining as well.  

Luigi: Oh, absolutely. You know, think about it. I mean, you know, why do we need to restrict, you know, our guests were in there in the room. You know, sometimes we're going to this...into some of the hotels and you have, you know, after the 11:00 PM it becomes a smaller man you and you usually you have a kind of unhealthy things burger with clap sound. You know whatever there might be. Is that really what you wanna eat at 11:00 at night at 12:00 in the morning sometimes you can buy yourself to being too wide enough to know that clientele is also change, you are becoming healthier, you know, especially business travelers that they come in, they're always on the move. So they would appreciate more if you gave them more of a sense of give me a restaurant experience within the room and that's and that's what we try to achieve at the Waldorf.  

Arun: So just a few minutes ago you mentioned that you want to be the leader in Ultra Luxury segment. Now that's a tall statement. New York is full of absolutely fantastic hotels that all want to be the leaders in Ultra. So what do you think is going to set you apart in terms of taking leadership role in that space.  

Luigi: You know I 100% respect the brands that we have in New York City. I mean, we have some wonderful hotels and that's what makes you know the city, so dynamic. And everybody's got the different flavor and style, and all the World Office has the reason why I've I feel the world of sits in a in a place on its own is because he really grew up in New York City right and it is one of those hotels that is very uncomparable in many ways and just walking in and just looking at the at the legacy and all of that. It is a real New York people that sometimes say we wanna build a hotel and this a hotel is very sensual place, right where we are immediately a sense of place New York. It's like really New York. You know, and with that we the way we are going to deliver the service is to pay our homage to the New York, you know, vibe and really get a sense of the local vendors of everything that we can do that is very within, you know, a certain provenance that is nearby. That really, really is as well. So we can stay really, truly authentic, for example, are the people, the team members in New York are super friendly, and they're super, you know, and they're super welcoming. We're gonna take advantage of that, you know, really get those qualities out during the engagement process. So you're gonna see that our engagement is gonna be at a different level perhaps than other than other hotels. So we're going to insist about how to properly deliver you know the communication and then also offer something above and beyond, you know, because like I said, you know, people expect more than just receiving ourselves. They expect you to be intuitive enough to give you the next thing that you're not even thinking about, right? So you're gonna see that a lot. You know, the way we deliver that level of service like that, you always gotta keep it fresh. Keep it moving. Keep it active and not also do that very well. Are the hotels that they're gonna really make a presence in the city? That's when the community comes into your hotel and start saying, you know what, if you're gonna be in New York City. You need to go Waldorf in New York City because there's always something going, you know, the delivery of the surface is impeccable. So that's kind of my vision is to, if I have to say, if I have a court of public or luxury public opinion said there is one. I think in the world, or they travel as they travel, they are very nomad. They can go to the beautiful hotels, the best hotels in best brands. One of us would sit probably very, very top just because of this element of surprise that we're going to give and this very curated engagement. All of that, you know, is something that I really, really passionate about.  

Arun: I am so excited about hearing, and I know that there are other tricks up your sleeve that you're not disclosing here, so people will just have to wait until you open to actually experience the new Waldorf. OK, so I want to and to follow up on my previous question about New York being the home to some of the most, a lot of the luxury brands ultra luxury brands. But Waldorf, like you said, holds a special place. It has held some of the most iconic social events in the history of New York. It has hosted world leaders and celebrities and influencers and if that that was such a thing and royalty as well.  

Now you've been out of the game since 2017. So what kind of high profile experiences will you host? And also do you think Waldorf can reclaim its status as the center of social attraction in the City of New York?  

Luigi: You know, everyone is waiting for this hotel to reopen. I have to say we like to say they all eyes are on us. I mean, it seems to and especially the fact that it's taking a little bit longer. You know the seven years you know and by the way everything that we have done has been very meticulous. You know it's not a delay for any negative reason it was really always with a sense of like we're gonna open, we're gonna open, but we're gonna open very well, right, you know. And so. But sometimes we are. You know why you're not opening yet. But in reality, lots of attention to detail. And we are insisting there. And even now that we're going to open with an incredible amount of training, an incredible amount of role-playing. And making sure all the details are delivered. So after waiting you know at this time the guests will come in and we'll have a complete appreciation for what we have done. But with that, you know, yes, there is a all of this expectation that come from the past of course, how do you bring it into the present you know and I must say that there is a we are we are also gonna speak to a different audience as well as you know the world has changed. We have new generational and especially people are getting younger and more successful and so I can see also Generation Z, you know, and millennials coming into the hotel and join the hotel. So we're also gonna talk to them as well. So a lot of the programming, you'll be surprised you're gonna see a new a new sharp and fresh feel about Waldorf as well. So it's not just about people that love Marilyn Monroe. And back in the past, yes, we respect all of that, but when you come in, you also you're gonna see a lot of you know, whether it's the mixology, the verses that we use, the story that we tell to the drinks, the way we present the drinks, you know, the body is a big component for us, right? You know, through the fragrance, when you walk in and you smell this wonderful fragrance, we are there. We sell it from a from, like a perfumer the specializes, you know, really capturing the essence of the neighborhood. And again, I cannot tell you much more about this. Yeah, but we are also talking thought about that. I mean, every single, the, the music, the sound, the fragrance, you know, the look all of that you're gonna feel like you're transporting to the into this environment. These people really paid attention to all the desire, you know.  

And New York, the trick for us and really the aspiration is that we want New York to fall back in love with us, you know, because we feel the hotel really belongs to New York City relied us, I mean their owners have been there, you know, through the history and they can borrow it for a little while. But at the end really truly. It really belongs to New York. I cannot. I cannot begin to tell you many times, you know, I meet people and they know that they are the founder. I'm the managing director.I know my, you know, my parents, you know, get engaged over there or someone at a bar mitzvah over there or, you know, there is always a story with the New Yorkers and Waldorf, there's a love affair for that, to the point that it almost becomes like a gravitational pool.  

You know, when people come to New York City, there is a gravitational pull toward the, you know, Park Ave. and the world of Astoria because they wanna be there just to be seen and see people for several, so they get you get cannot their level let me go to some place really special and see who's gonna be in the lobby. And so we get a lot of that as well. And then once they get there we have an incredible food and beverage that we are planning and I know there was a press release that was done on this. So I can tell you about this one I can tell you about, we have a wonderful restaurant that is, that is being created by Michael Anthony, chef Michael Anthony from Gramercita.  

He's also going to be our chef partner. So he's going to retain his responsibility. Gramercy Tower, but also have a partnership with us and do all the culinary programming for us and is going to deliver, you know, a wonderful dinner mixology. Incredible. And of course, a great lunch and also breakfast. So I can imagine a very beautiful breakfast also from Michael Anthony, you know, and I'll. And the reason why I love, love, love that is because it's a very New York homegrown chef. You know, they love New York, knows the community, knows all the local vendors and he is great fuel for ingredients, you know, and he insists to he designs the menu around the ingredients really. Other than with the other way around. And I really love that passion, and it really fits in because it's an American New York and you know, and it's just much as we what we are doing with a very timeless you know America, New York hotel you know, so it's going to go really, really well. So I have a feeling that the community is gonna come in and they're gonna look around and they're gonna taste, they're gonna drink, they're gonna get the engagement. They're gonna all fall in love with the Waldorf again.  

Arun: I absolutely love that you want New York City to fall in love with Aldorf again. That's fantastic. But you have many celebrities who crave exposure, who crave attention, and they want the world's eyes on them. Yet there are many others who are very reticent about exposure. They would just want to quietly stay in the sideline. So how do you balance these two conflicting desires of your guests?  

Luigi: You have a lot of great questions, so that that's a good one too. And I'm actually. I'm tuned into that because you know, as you know, New York, it's also, you know the there's a lot of attention to hotels like ours. You know these palace hotels and they do bring a lot of people from the community to come in and some of them just want to come in and take a picture and you know, and it becomes kind of like, you know, like that. But in reality, you know, we need to strike the right balance. So making everybody feel welcome to me as an operator. It's very important for me that the Community feels very comfortable with us and they don't feel like you come in and all of a sudden you feel like you're a burden to the hotel at the same time, we do want to also protect, you know, the experience for our hotel guests and stay over there and they committed to us stay and especially like you say you the more distinguished you know, there were perhaps more public figures. You know, they will have the table on the corner, right. And they don't want necessarily to see another people going by them, you know? So we will be very thoughtful in a way we communicate with our with our outside guests and of course you know we always welcome to enjoy you know our facilities and all that. And if at the time they don't have time or what else to enjoy it, you know we will give them a little small little tour or a small little diversion and say or like take a picture of the flower flowers over here. Go do this, you know, and we'll give them a little sense of Waldorf, you know, the facilities and all of that because we do need to create the right balance between the guests that came here to enjoy and the people from the outside. Of course they're rightfully wanna come see the hotel. I mean we love them. Right. Because next day they can come back and be a patron to us. You know? So it's all about the balance, but it's the engagement again. You know, I believe in really making feel. People feel special whether you are there or not. There just be respectful and be, you know, friendly and be cordial.  

Arun: OK. So I want to move to this new element of the Waldorf, which is the Waldorf Astoria residences. In the old days before the renovation, there used to be apartments in the towers and I've stayed in some of them gorgeous places, pretty large for hotel rooms. I'm sure you had some long term guests there as well, but how do you? So there are prominent residents and they have their lifestyle and you are also catering with amenities to the hotel guests. So how do you balance these two competing demands and are you going to have some exclusive amenities for the guests versus the residents, some exclusive for the residents. So how do you kind of balance these two different groups of customers?  

Luigi: That's so important because, and actually I really love the way this was developed Waldorf in New York, in a way that our ownership and brand really came in together and they wanted to make sure that we didn't have any really a feel of separation between residences, hotels because you know oftentimes you know you buy into a residence but you really because it's branded differently because it's kind of sometimes kept as separate from the hotel, so whenever a resident order, you feel almost like, you know, you gotta tiptoe throughout the hotel or you know, or you have the relationship right with us. We wanted to make sure that everything is branded Waldorf of Astoria, NY and everything is managed by Waldorf Astoria, NY, you know from Milton from us.  

So with that, it will give me the direct access to the residents. So everything that we are designing, everything that we are creating, we're always including the residents in it. The programming for example, you know, doorman, concierge, you know all of the positions that were those are all our employees or our team members, they're all gonna be uniform the same way we are. Some beautiful wardrobe, great engagement and also the residents would benefit as well from the hotel amenities, but also from their own amenities. I mean, we have two stories of amenities, just two entire floors, 2 floors. And they are followed this lifeful kind of areas, including a private swimming pool, fitness center bar, even billiard room in our massage rooms. So we have all this activation that we can create for our residences. So what I love to do when our residents come check comes in and moves in.  

I like to introduce him to my executive chef, to my hair, concierge, to my director for the beverage. You know myself. You know, we go out and meet them. We have a little lunch together, so he will have access this person, he or she will have access to the core team that we can provide the experiences to them because I really wanted to feel like part of the hotel, you know, and I'm going to be nurturing their relationships very, very much. So not only you're buying into an investment when you when you sell the Waldorf, but you're also building an incredible lifestyle.  

Arun: Fantastic. So I want to just last question before then I have some other fun questions. But for now, Waldorf Astoria has been part of the Hilton family for a long time. So what kind of benefits do you derive from being part of the Hilton family? And what does Hilton get from the Waldorf Astoria?  

Luigi: Well, I'll tell you, it's a very excellent time for Hilton. Very exciting because the Waldorf Astoria without the greatest of them all for the last seven years. It’s also been growing as a brand. So we have some incredible destination throughout the world. I mean, I was just in the Middle East, and I visited Waldorf Astoria within Doha. Spectacular. Probably. Kuwait. Incredible, I mean to buy the IFC and the Palmer, you know, so for probably within, you know, an hour flight from each other or an hour drive from each other. And it's just incredible, you know the how the brand is really, really taking off as an ultra-luxury, you know proposition, you know and now with the world of sort of coming back on board in New York, Hilton sees this almost as a new era, not only for New York City, but also for the brand of World of Astoria. And so there is this ultra luxury component that we were going after and now, and we have a lot of interest on new developers and all there and this is going to be a business card for us. You know the location in New York and as you know, everybody's gonna stop by over there and see it and take note of how detail oriented we are. And so the future of Hilton in the old in the ultra-luxury space is coming and it's starting to get right. When we opened the hotel, you know, it's going to be a new era for Hilton. And Hilton provides a lot of support, I must say the probable infrastructure of built on on all the sensors. Where is food and beverage to sell some marketing. We have a really great bandwidth you know and I'm having a really wonderful relationship with all my corporate people, and they all want to come in and help because it's such an incredible undertake you know.  

Arun: Amazing. OK, so now we wrap up and let's shift gears a little bit and have a little bit of a fun. We've talked about luxury and leadership. Now we get to know you a little bit. So you've had an extraordinary career working with some of the most likeliest hotels in the world and now you are at the helm of the world of Astoria. You're surrounded by fine dining and like you said, you're putting so much emphasis on create really creating world class cuisine. But when you're off duty, what is your comfort food?  

Luigi: You know, it's funny because I don't necessarily seek after what used to be called fine dining. You know the odd elevated dining right? I mean, I appreciate you and your restaurant comes in. I'm one of the forefront to go just because I like I want to keep an eye on the culture and what is the design and all of that? So I do, do I do that? But I really, truly I feel comfortable in real rustic very, very food oriented establishments. You know the perhaps the focus more on food even though the presentation yes it's good it is good but it's true it's honest. But the ingredients are fantastic. You know, sometimes you buy so much into what decor and all of that, but you know, but the food needs to come through. Sort of focus on the food and the service as well.  

Arun: Yes, I'm going to push here. Give me a name of a dish.  

Luigi: Ohhh my gosh. Oh my God. You know.  New York is so compared. OK, I'll tell you the *** it is one of my favorite. You know, I'm not just saying that because Michael Anthony is working with us. But I respect the his vision. And when you especially on the bar area you working there on. Again, it's very laid back. You don't feel like it's pretentious, but when the cuisine comes to you ohh my gosh, you know, it's like the best food, the best meat, the best, the cheeses. To me that is why I would pay top dollar for if for somebody that took the time to do the research and then offer it to you. I did all the work I did all the research. I did it and I'm going to give you the best of my knowledge and I'll put it on the play for you. And that's for you. To me, that's rather than just do another recipe being put it together in a fancy restaurant, you know. And also I have to be honest with I also respect, you know, Daniel Boulud is a wonderful culinaria in the city. I have a great relationship with him. I did an A restaurant. You know, when I was at Rosewood Bahama, I can say that great Culinaria and he and he is always ahead of himself. I really, really enjoy working with him as well. There's a lot of culinarians, you know that I really, I respect, but Michael is going to be my guy and yeah.  

Arun: That is fantastic. Now people listening are gonna be very curious if I'm gonna push you any further and I am. Now let's just say that this is a Sunday. And you're not going to work and you're home and you're hungry. You need to cook one dish. What will that be?  

Luigi: OK. Well, no, I like this. You know, I look, you know, if you just during lunch time, I'll probably make me a nice plate of pasta because it's.  

Arun: You're Italian? I was looking for that answer.  

Luigi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, the pasta is the one, you know, it is one of those things that they're there, it's always gonna stay with but has to be lunch time. I don't know if I wanna do that dinner. OK. But you know, I just signed up for one just. And I've I've been training for the New York, Marathon. So I'm gonna actually be running the marathon in November 3rd. You know, for a for city harvest, which is a great, you know, fun, you know, you know, fundraiser. And then and with that, you know, I started doing a little bit more pasta. So I have a little bit more reason to. So yes, I mean it's night time probably I would do I keep it. I'll be healthy. I would a little fish or grilled chicken, things like that, yes.  

Arun: Excellent. OK. So if you could escape for a leisure trip right now, where would you go for a better relaxation?  

Luigi: I say, remote and adventurous, I have this vision of, you know, literally what I what I've been craving is to do an action adventure trip whereby you do something that that kind of pushes yourself like for example, go to the Kilimanjaro and climate, you know, and then after that you checking into a five star hotel.  after your muscles are sore and you and you're like that. Then you have all the five star beautiful space and you just relax. You enjoy and yeah, and because even three times better, right. So you have that sense of accomplishment and the sense of relaxation because to be honest, there's so much I can relax. Because I'm always active and all of that even after 2-3 days, I'm like OK, I need to. I need to explore. I need to discover I need to feel alive and I enjoy remote destination more than the predictable destination I will say.  

Arun: Louise, it has been a pleasure having you on the show on the podcast. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your world and sharing exciting insights about the Waldorf. I'm sure our listeners can't wait to see the new era of the world of I know I can't wait to see either, so we look forward to the grand reopening and all the best for your marathon for your Kilimanjaro climb as well as the grand reopening in late spring.  

Luigi: You're so sweet. Thank you very much. And by the way, when I say New York friendly, I'm also Boston friendly. OK. It's not too far away. OK, so please, come on down. And thank you for the nice welcome. And I would love to show you in due time the splendor of, let's call it the new Waldorf or the reimagine Waldorf. it's an evolution, I would say, but it will be the greatest of them all.  

Arun: Fantastic. We look forward to it. Thank you.