By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo New Editor
MANHATTAN — When the legendary Elaine's serves its last meal Thursday night, regulars who flocked to the Upper East Side institution over the years are expected to say their fond farewells.
Elaine's was the place to go for writers, artists, actors, sports stars, politicians and even average New Yorkers. They didn't go there for the food. They were there for the scene created by its owner, Elaine Kaufman, who passed away in December.
She left the restaurant to longtime manager, Diane Becker, who announced last week that May 26 would be the last call for the restaurant famously frequented by the likes of Woody Allen, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer and other luminaries.
Without Elaine, the restaurant wasn't working, Becker had said.
"Elaine was a great friend," the actor Michael Caine recounted to Vanity Fair. "One evening an annoying man walked over to my table, Elaine noticed him, punched him on the nose, and slung him out."
Elaine was a larger than life personality, who turned her restaurant into a club, introducing "members" to each other.
"People didn’t come for the food. That’s for sure," Allen told New York magazine last year. "They went up there to chat and socialize and because of Elaine’s personality."
Allen, who filmed scenes for "Manhattan" at Elaine's, said she was always in the restaurant, making the rounds at the tables. "She’d sit down and chat with you and always had interesting things to say or funny anecdotes, because she knew everybody."
TV broadcaster Rikki Klieman, who was introduced to Elaine's by her husband, Bill Bratton, a former New York City police commissioner and Los Angeles police chief, said told the Associated Press she felt adrift.
"I don't know what many of us will do," she said. "I guess we'll just have to stay home."
