Ms. Phillips paid $1.6 million for the one-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op near the top of 180 East 79th Street. The seller was the estate of Piera Circiello. She died in the fall of 2009, and was the wife of famed Upper East Side restaurateur Gino Circiello, whose eponymous restaurant was located 18 blocks south at 780 Lexington Avenue. In Gino Circiello's obituary from December 2001, The Times described the eatery thusly:

[Gino] epitomized the New York of the time when men still wore hats and a plate of spaghetti went for 95 cents. It was where Ed Sullivan ordered the same chicken dish every day and then spread out his papers on a table to work through the afternoon. Each Mother's Day, Frank Sinatra brought a dozen people to the big table in the back. Manicurists, opera stars and the odd mobster added spice to the sauce.

The 1930 red-brick-and-limestone building went co-op in 1965, according to Carter Horseley's City Realty, where he also notes, "The building has an impressive and large lobby decorated in an Oriental style with a doorman and a concierge."

SLIDESHOW: Connie Anne Phillips' Saucy New Spread >>

Entering Ms. Phillips' new 18th-floor "unique pre-war residence," as Sotheby's brokers Pierrette Hogan and Cheryl Daly put it in their listing, visitors are greeted by a set of exquisitely detailed and connected living spaces. A gallery steps down into a sunken 22-foot-long living room with a fireplace and then back up into the dining room on the left. Those rooms, along with the pantry and kitchen--with top-of-the-line appliances befitting any restaurant--have been painted the red of just-ripe Roma tomatoes. A staff room adjoins the pantry and dining room, leaving ample opportunity to create a two-bedroom. There are carved ceiling  beams and crown molding throughout the home.

These sorts of architectural details should suit Ms. Phillips very well. After all, she told Daily Front Row last September that the thing she missed most about working at Conde Nast was Frank Gehry's famous cafeteria in 4 Times Square.

Read past Manhattan Transfers here. >>

mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo