By Charlene Giannetti

Kings’ Carriage House is the perfect place to spend a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Even though the restaurant seats 75 people, each room seems cozy and each table private. That’s just the way Elizabeth King, its owner, likes it. “It’s a very intimate situation, like having company every day,” she says.

King and her husband, Paul Farrell, have been lovingly operating this gem of a restaurant since 1994. “I do a little bit of everything,” she says. “I do the menus, the flowers, and I’m in the kitchen.” Each room in Kings’ Carriage House resembles something out of an 18th century mansion. In the upstairs dining room the walls are painted red and decorated with paintings of horses and well-heeled men and women. The windows are adorned with striped swag draperies and the floors covered with red oriental carpets that look suitably worn. Red floral arrangements complete the décor. Other rooms include the downstairs Willow Room, decorated in blues and yellows, and upstairs, a private dining room called the Hunt Room, has many hunt scenes on the walls. These rooms are also used for private dining events.

More than 15 years ago, King was operating her own catering business with her eye towards opening a restaurant. She made frequent trips to Ireland, where she met her husband, and was enthralled with the manor houses that had been turned into attractive restaurants and small hotels. “You could have beautiful accommodations for overnight and enjoy a drink and dinner by the fire,” she said. When the charming two-story space on East 82nd Street became available, she knew she had found the perfect place for her restaurant.

Running a restaurant would seem to be a fulltime job for anyone. Not for King. In addition to the restaurant, she continues to operate her catering business and also owns The Linen Shop in New Canaan, Connecticut, where she sells beautiful bedding, tableware, and night clothes. Like her restaurant, her store is influenced by her love of all beautiful things, including exquisite embroidered items, a craft, which she fears, may be dying out. “I believe fine hand embroidery is something very special,” she says. “We have to get behind it because when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

The Linen Shop does custom work for designers or individual customers who are looking for special items to outfit a bed, room, or an entire house. “We do a lot of monogramming and stitch appliqués,” she says. The shop stocks linens from around the world including Matouk, known for its quality products made in America.

The store was a natural outgrowth of her restaurant where she had always sold treasures she found on her trips to Ireland. “I loved the retail part of it,” she said. She and Alicia Taylor have owned The Linen Shop for four years and the store has a devoted following, even among New Yorkers. (To see some items from King’s store, see the Entertaining Around section).

King hopes people won’t wait for Valentine’s Day to visit Kings’ Carriage House. “We never wanted the restaurant to be a place where you just came for a special occasion,” she says. “We wanted people to come and dine anytime and enjoy it.” In fact, the restaurant has regulars from the neighborhood who dine several times a week, many celebrities (including a well-known news person), as well as those who are long distance fans. Many families celebrate their holidays at Kings’ Carriage House.

The restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. There is a special Mother-Daughter Afternoon Tea in addition to regular tea for groups ranging in size from eight to 75-plus people. The tea service must be reserved in advance. The dinner menu changes daily, depending upon the seasonal ingredients that are available. The most popular items continue to be prime-aged steak, the wild salmon, and duck. The restaurant’s creamed brussels sprouts are a favorite. Because the restaurant is located within 200 feet of a church, it may only serve wine and beer.

The special Valentine’s Day dinner menu will be available starting from 5:30 p.m. Guests will be welcomed with hors d’oeuvres and a Champagne toast. The four-course prix fixe dinner is $150 per person. A strolling musician will wander from room to room playing romantic favorites. Reservations are required.

The Irish Georgian Society will hold a Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration at Kings’ Carriage House at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12. For $150 per person, guests will enjoy traditional Irish dishes including oat smoked Irish salmon, oysters in Guinness sauce, roasted loin of lamb, and cockles and mussels. To reserve, e-mail Maribeth Welsh, irishgeorgian@nyc.rr.com.

King feels strongly about giving back. She works with guilds that enlist local women in developing countries to make various items that can be sold in The Linen Shop. A certain portion of each sale goes directly into a bank account for these women. “It’s nice to know you are having a positive influence,” she says.

On February 28, King will be one of five women honored by the New York Junior League for her volunteer work with that organization. On May 2, she will co-chair a benefit for the Little Sisters of the Assumption who work with needy families in East Harlem. When asked how she manages to fit everything in, King just laughs. “According to my friends I don’t know how to say no,” she says.

King and her family live adjacent to the restaurant and try to spend time together as a family. Oftentimes, that means dining at the Carriage House. Already, King says, her 10 year-old daughter, Lillibet, feels comfortable in the restaurant world and even pitches in where she can.

It seems that, in the near future at least, Kings’ Carriage House will continue to be in capable hands.

Kings’ Carriage House
251 East 82nd Street
212-734-5490

Woman Around Town’s Six Questions:

Favorite Place to Shop: 7th floor at Bergdorf’s for the linens, the home accessories, the chocolates and the children’s department. The Silk Purse in New Canaan for consignments. The food market at Grand Central.

Favorite Place to Eat: Kings’ Carriage House, of course!

Favorite New York Sight: Always the New York Skyline, anytime of day. Anywhere in New York at Christmas. Springtime on 28th Street with the flower market overflowing with flowering narcissus, viburnum and bales of lilac.

Favorite New York Moment: Walking in a procession with friends and family on our snowy wedding day from St. Ignatius Loyola to our reception at The New York Junior League being led by bag pipes!

What You Love About New York: The diversity of everything— architecture, people, style, shopping, dining. The authenticity of ethnic cuisine.

What You Hate About New York: Nothing!