Associated Press

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The Rainbow Room reopened Sunday in its historic perch atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza after a five-year absence from the New York City skyline.

“It’s breathtaking,” guest Jamie Greenwald, one of more than 200 brunch guests who took in the sweeping views outside and the significant improvements inside the 80-year-old establishment whose floors have been walked across by Cole Porter, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, Barbra Streisand and Muhammad Ali.

Herb-roasted Amish chicken, oysters, shrimp, honeybaked Benton ham, Yorkshire pudding and chicken and black truffle pot pies were among dozens of delicacies awaiting the luncheon crowd in a spread created by Executive Chef Jonathan Wright.

“It’s like opening night!” Keith Douglas, a managing director of the real-estate company Tishman Speyer — Rockefeller Center’s owner and manager — gushed as dozens of workers rushed about, putting finishing touches on the refurbished venue an hour before guests began arriving.

The sunny, clear-blue sky offered no chance for rainbows this day through windows that were enlarged by as much as 25 percent during an extensive renovation designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates.

The architectural firm also created SixtyFive, a new cocktail lounge adjacent to Rainbow Room that for the first time next year when the weather warms will permit guests to order drinks on a previously vacant outdoor terrace.

Douglas said architect Michael Gabellini made sure to restore aspects of the Rainbow Room including brass railings and crystal bollards that were included in the nightclub’s original design. Montroy Andersen DeMarco was the project’s executive architect.