The Big Top

Ringside at Le Cirque 2000

Sirio Maccioni, the proprietor of Le Cirque 2000, is a man under siege. "We have five telephone lines—they always ring. What can I tell you? They send us fax, they send us special delivery!" The reservation-taking never stops. "Anne Bass for lunch at one today? Of course!... Six at 1:30 for Roseanne Barr—I should say just 'Roseanne'? O.K., whateverwe'll make it for you." What to do with Dr. Kissinger? A minion wants to know. "Dr. Kissinger can sit in the grill room," Maccioni declares. "We can do anything we want! Dr. Kissinger is an intelligent man!" As the crowds come pouring in each day, the 61-year-old master restaurateur seems overcome with delight; the soles of his black suede loafers appear to hover two inches off the mosaic floor. "I always feel that I like controlled confusion," Maccioni says, pausing to punch a handsome young chef in the arm, "if you can control it!" -MATT TYRNAUER

The Villard Houses, designed by McKim, Mead and White and built in 1885, are Le Cirque's new home. Above: in the blue room (formerly the mansion's drawing room), highbacked purple mohair chairs and banquettes contrast with pink inlaid-marble walls. Right: in the barroom, which is dominated by four huge torcheres and a ganglion of neon hoops, Sirio Maccioni confers with a group of chefs. Above the bar, a TV screen shows a pastry chef at work. Top right: Le Cirque 2000's signature dessert the Banana Clown Hat.

MATT TYRNAUER