Famous New York office tower attracts star chef amid Midtown food boom
Upscale sushi, Korean-inspired steaks and American fare will be on the menu at three new restaurants set to open in the former Sony building in Manhattan, The Post has learned.
The various restaurants at 550 Madison Avenue – the iconic tower that is home to Hermes, Chubb and Corsair Capital – were revealed for the first time on Monday by Simon Kim’s Gracious Hospitality Group.
Last year, Kim signed a lease for a “multi-faceted” 15,000-square-foot restaurant space in the Midtown tower, as the Post first reported, but the types of restaurants he s ‘would act have remained secret until now.
The “exclusive” sushi restaurant will be helmed by renowned Japanese chef Masahiro Yoshitake, who holds several Michelin stars in Tokyo and Hong Kong. It will be located on the mezzanine level.
COTE, Kim’s incredibly popular marriage of Korean barbecue and American steakhouse styles, will launch its second New York location in the tower’s basement. The ground floor, meanwhile, will house a very attractive “restaurant and bar concept” open all day.
The restaurants will offer “transporting, immersive and unique dining experiences” and the “original approaches will set the stage for the future of hospitality,” Kim told the Post.
Entrance to all three sites will be through the tower’s landscaped, block-long public arcade between East 55th and East 56th streets.
David Rockwell’s Rockwell Group is leading the design of the tower, which Olayan America has transformed into a premier office space charging tenants up to $200 per square foot.
However, diners will have to wait until the end of next year to get a first look due to the complexity of the planning and architecture, Kim said.
The tower is one of several hiring big-name chefs to burnish their image and attract well-paid tenants, such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Four Twenty Five at 425 Park Avenue and Daniel Boulud’s Le Pavillon at One Vanderbilt.
Last year, 550 Madison saw more than 303,500 square feet of new leases join the C-note club, according to CBRE.
The most recent lease was for 70,000 square feet for BDT & MSD Partners in December. It followed an even larger project: 144,000 square feet for private investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice last June.
The tower is now 80 to 90% leased.
