{"id":59598,"date":"2023-09-11T12:25:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T16:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/news\/sept-11-attacks-windows-on-the-world-chef-speaks-about-his-near-miss-on-9-11-when-stopped-off-at-the-world-trade-center-concourse-to-repair-his-glasses\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T12:25:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T16:25:15","slug":"sept-11-attacks-windows-on-the-world-chef-speaks-about-his-near-miss-on-9-11-when-stopped-off-at-the-world-trade-center-concourse-to-repair-his-glasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=59598","title":{"rendered":"Sept. 11 attacks: Windows on the World chef speaks about his near-miss on 9\/11, when stopped off at the World Trade Center concourse to repair his glasses"},"content":{"rendered":"
Michael Lomonaco escaped with his life on Sept. 11, 2001 \u2014 all because of an unexpectedly easy commute to work and a pair of busted reading glasses.<\/p>\n
On that day, the New York City chef was headed to his job as culinary director of Windows on the World, the famed World Trade Center dining space. He took the position in 1997 after an already impressive career that included stints at such iconic Big Apple eateries as Le Cirque and the 21 Club. <\/p>\n
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But Windows represented a towering next step, literally and figuratively. The high-profile restaurant was situated near the top of one of the World Trade Center\u2019s twin towers. <\/p>\n
It was also an extremely demanding job \u2014 the restaurant, spread across the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, was actually several dining and drinking spots rolled into one and served as many as 1,000 customers a day. That meant Lomonaco typically put in long hours, arriving at 8:30 a.m. and working through dinner. It also meant he had little time to attend to personal errands.<\/p>\n
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\n \u201c<\/span>\u2018I could see people waving tablecloths out the windows of what I took to be the restaurant.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Michael Lomonaco on what he witnessed before the Twin Towers collapsed<\/span> \n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
So Lomonaco took advantage of whatever free moments fell his way. And on the morning of Sept. 11, he used one such moment to get his glasses fixed, after his wife pushed him to make an appointment ahead of an Italian vacation the couple was taking the following week. He was at a LensCrafters store in the World Trade Center\u2019s shopping concourse when the first plane hit. <\/p>\n
MarketWatch spoke with the chef, who now heads another New York City restaurant, Porter House Bar and Grill, to talk about what happened that day and how he has since moved on with his life. <\/p>\n
8:46 a.m.: The first plane hits the North Tower<\/h2>\n
Lomonaco was originally scheduled to visit the LensCrafters store at noon on Sept. 11, 2001. But because he was running ahead of schedule due to a lighter-than-normal commute, he decided to stop in early that morning when he had a chance \u2014 \u201cWhat chef doesn\u2019t want to save time?\u201d he noted \u2014 with the hope that he could be accommodated. \u201cI thought, \u2018Let me see if I can do this now,\u2019\u201d he said. The store indeed had an opening.<\/p>\n
When the first plane hit at 8:46 a.m., Lomonaco was still at LensCrafters. \u201cWe were minutes away from being finished. \u2026 They were probably about to sell me new frames,\u201d he said. Suddenly, he was jolted by the crash. \u201cI just thought, \u2018Could that be the subway?\u2019 It turns out it was the impact of the first plane.\u201d The lights flickered and then went out in the store. And within a minute or two, the building\u2019s security team arrived and said that the concourse was being evacuated.<\/p>\n
When Lomonaco got to the street, he saw that \u201cthe sky was littered with paper, like confetti. That was all from the offices.\u201d He also saw \u201csmoldering, burning debris\u201d on the ground. \u201cI took it to be a small car,\u201d he said, but later realized it was probably part of the plane\u2019s fuselage. <\/p>\n
He headed away to use a pay phone, because his cell service was out. He reached his wife \u2014 \u201cI said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened. I just want you to know I\u2019m outside’\u201d \u2014 and the owners of Windows on the World. He started thinking about his employees at the restaurant. \u201cI was trying to make a mental list of who was working,\u201d he said, and he decided to return to the World Trade Center. \u201cIf I can help in any way, I thought, \u2018Let me go help.\u2019 It was not logical. It was emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n
9:03 a.m.: The second plane hits the South Tower<\/h2>\n
But Lomonaco didn\u2019t make it back to the scene. Instead, he was one of many bewildered New Yorkers on the street when the second plane hit at 9:03 a.m. \u201cI heard the roar of the jet engines. I looked up at the moment of impact,\u201d Lomonaco recalled. And then he realized the full gravity of the situation: \u201cThis is an attack. We\u2019re under attack.\u201d Someone grabbed his arm and tried to pull him into a building. \u201cThey offered me safety,\u201d he said, but he walked north. <\/p>\n
Eventually, he stopped to view the damage. \u201cIt was terrifying and shocking all at once,\u201d he said. \u201cI could see people waving tablecloths out the windows of what I took to be the restaurant. I imagined they broke the windows. I imagined the space was filled with smoke.\u201d At 9:59 am., the South Tower collapsed, followed by the North Tower at 10:28 a.m. The Twin Towers were gone, but Lomonaco was safe.<\/p>\n
The aftermath<\/h2>\n
Lomonaco said that 79 people who worked at Windows on the World lost their lives that day. So did 91 restaurant guests \u2014 the dining spot had its morning regulars and was also hosting a conference that day. The restaurant staff was a diverse, international group, with the team referring to itself as the \u201clittle UN.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the aftermath of 9\/11, Lomonaco helped set up the Windows of Hope fund to support the families of Windows employees and of other World Trade Center food-service workers who died.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are people who could be easily forgotten, overlooked and neglected, the people [often] at the lowest strata of the economic pay scale,\u201d he said. As of 2021, the fund had raised $22 million.<\/p>\n
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A new chapter in New York<\/h2>\n
After 9\/11, Lomonaco held various restaurant and consulting positions and had some choice opportunities to work in Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas and elsewhere. But he never considered leaving the city after 9\/11: \u201cI\u2019m a native New Yorker, and I was never going to move after this.\u201d <\/p>\n
Eventually, he was able to realize a dream and open his own restaurant, the Porter House Bar and Grill, a steakhouse with an upscale, gourmet-centric approach. In many ways, the Midtown establishment is a continuation of Windows on the World, with Lomonaco continuing with some culinary ideas he had begun exploring at Wild Blue, the restaurant-within-a-restaurant at the World Trade Center dining spot. Lomonaco also brought aboard some key staff people he had worked with at Windows.<\/p>\n
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\n \u201c<\/span>\u2018I\u2019m a native New Yorker, and I was never going to move after this.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Michael Lomonaco<\/span> \n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Lomonaco recalled how people were hesitant to return to restaurants in New York after 9\/11. The same was true during the recovery from the pandemic, albeit for different reasons. But Lomonaco remains bullish on the city and its dining scene. <\/p>\n
Lomonaco noted that he was not the only one to cheat death on 9\/11. Indeed, some customers left Windows as late as 8:44 a.m., according to one report. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany people survived that day in other ways, too,\u201d Lomonaco said, but added that he considers himself \u201camong the fortunate.\u201d And ever since 9\/11, he has aimed to look forward. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to balance my life by never taking life for granted.\u201d <\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: This story was originally published in September 2021 and has been republished for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n