BY YANNIC RACK | The restaurants at Hudson Yards will soon be cooking up a world-class storm, as two new chefs have signed on to bring their talents to the emerging neighborhood.
José Andrés, who is credited with bringing small-plate dining to the US, and Costas Spiliadis, the Greek chef behind the seafood mecca Estiatorio Milos, will both helm restaurants at the project’s one-million-square-foot culinary component, the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.
“Both chefs have shown a commitment to helping create the new heart of New York, and I could not be more proud of the collection we are creating,” said Kenneth Himmel, one of the project’s developers.
The two restaurants are among a dozen or so that will open in the retail complex in 2018, together with an American-style grill by renowned chef Thomas Keller, who is curating the space together with Himmel.
The pair has previously teamed up to open acclaimed restaurants Per Se and Bouchon in Time Warner Center, but the Hudson Yards eateries will be less formal and expensive, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“We’ve already done our thing at the top,” Himmel told the Journal in an interview. “The idea here is to be much more engaging, much more affordable.”
A spokesperson for the project confirmed that the retail complex will feature six to eight quick-serve restaurants, two more locations for Bouchon, Keller’s café and bakery, as well as a restaurant located within Neiman Marcus, the luxury department store that will anchor the building.
Hudson Yards’ culinary component at the Shops & Restaurants has been overshadowed so far by the other buildings rising up across the 28-acre site.
Ten Hudson Yards, the first commercial tower, recently topped out at its southeastern edge, and the first residential building, 15 Hudson Yards, got a boost this month from a $1.3 billion financing deal.
The entire Eastern Yard of the new neighborhood between 10th and 11th Aves. and W. 30th and W. 34th Sts., which will also include a public square, a hotel and an arts and entertainment center, is set to open in 2018.
