1986, Equitable officials wanted to operate what Newsday described as "nothing but the best of restaurants". Initially, there was an Italian restaurant called Palio and a French restaurant called Le Bernardin. Palio's ground-floor bar measured , with a ceiling, and its second floor contained a dining room. The former bar room's walls still contain a mural by Sandro Chia entitled Palio, which depicts the Palio di Siena horse race. Le Bernardin, a Michelin-starred restaurant, occupies a less architecturally elaborate space, originally decorated with velvet upholstery. A third restaurant, the American grill Sam's Restaurant, opened in late 1987. While Le Bernardin continues to operate in the building , the old Palio space has operated as the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar since 2014. Meanwhile, Sam's was replaced by Judson Grill and then Bar Americain. Other stories , the building has 31 passenger elevators, as well as three freight elevators and two vehicular elevators. Twenty-six of the passenger elevators lead from the lobby to the upper floors. Four of these elevators run from the lobby to floors 2 through 9; eight elevators serve floors 9 through 23; six elevators serve floors 23 through 33; and eight elevators serve floors 34 through 50. There are also two elevators in the annex, serving the lobby through floor 8; another elevator connecting the lobby to the subcellar; and two elevators connecting the Axa Equitable auditorium to the lobby. A broadcast studio and auditorium were also designed for the building. The Equitable auditorium has 487, 495, or 500 seats, accessed from a staircase from the atrium. The auditorium has been used for several major corporate events, including the announcement of a merger between IBM and Lotus Software, as well as the merger announcement of Kimberly-Clark and Scott Paper Company. It has also been used for musical performances, such as a jazz performance by Roy Nathanson in 1990. Equitable officials had their own private bathrooms as well as Chippendale furniture. The 49th and 50th floors comprised Equitable's executive suite and were connected by a stair. The 49th floor was designed with 14 dining rooms, each with works from a different artists. The dining rooms range from a small accommodation, with one table and four chairs, to a dining hall with a baby grand piano, sofas, and a fireplace. There were two executive rooms at the 50th story: one facing east and the other facing west. The rooms had