Restaurant influx seen adding spice to West 57th Street

Aside from the towers and prices rising on West 57th Street, a number of eateries have cropped up on the block in recent months, bringing a hipper ambience to the Midtown scene.

The Fifth and Sixth avenue stretch along 57th has been largely lacking new dining options for several years. But American brasserie Kingside opened inside the Viceroy New York hotel at 120 West 57th Street, and chef Sam Hazen is at work on a spot in 1 Hotel Central Park slated to open this fall. Newcomers include Italian-American steak restaurant Quality Italian at 57 West 57th Street and Betony at 41 West 57th Street. The Wayfarer restaurant at the Quin hotel occupies two floors of the former Buckingham Hotel site, which opened its doors in November.

“There’s a very clear movement in the dining scene where the previous stigma of Downtown versus Uptown is changing,” Lisle Richards, a partner in the Quin’s Wayfarer space, told the Wall Street Journal. [WSJ] — Mark Maurer