Can Hudson Yards become NYC’s next fine-dining destination?

Complex will be home to more than 20 dining and drinking spots

From left: Thomas Keller, Michael Lomonaco, and David Chang with Hudson Yards (Credit: Getty Images)
From left: Thomas Keller, Michael Lomonaco, and David Chang with Hudson Yards (Credit: Getty Images)

With Hudson Yards’s official opening just weeks away, food and real estate professionals are predicting that the new neighborhood will have a major impact on the city’s culinary scene – though there may be challenges early on.

Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group’s $25 billion mixed-use complex will be home to more than 20 dining and drinking establishments, highlighted by high-end restaurants from star chefs such as Thomas Keller, David Chang and Michael Lomonaco. Offerings will also include a Spanish-themed food hall from José Andrés, Mercado Little Spain.

Industry insiders told the Wall Street Journal that it is hard to recall another instance in city history when so many prominent fine-dining establishments launched in the same place at the same time.

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“It’s pretty unprecedented, the volume they’re opening,” said Julia Heyer, a New York-based restaurant consultant.

Two major British hospitality companies, rhubarb and D&D London, will also be opening restaurants at Hudson Yards, while Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will be opening a cafe at The Shed, as well as the “anchor restaurant” for Brookfield’s Manhattan West just a few blocks east.

Meanwhile, observers have also voiced concerns about the development’s location, which could be a particular challenge early on. Hudson Yards officials say the site’s proximity to the High Line and Javits Center, as well as the eventual arrival of 40,000 office workers and 4,000 residents to the complex, can alleviate those concerns in the long run. [WSJ] — Kevin Sun