Thomas Keller, David Chang, José Andrés restaurants at Hudson Yards, New York: what it’s like to eat there
- Keller’s retro American country club classics, Chang’s fine-dining concept Kawi, and traditional Spanish cuisine from Andrés delight the taste buds
- The three celebrity chefs prove a hit at New York’s largest private real estate development since The Rockefeller Center
In a city not exactly short of dining opportunities, the just-opened multibillion-dollar development at Hudson Yards has added still further to New York’s culinary landscape, with more than 30 new food and drink establishments.
It sits roughly where Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen meet on Manhattan’s west side, at the northern end of the High Line, for those who know the city’s hugely popular elevated walkway.
It’s a big deal, in a lot of ways. New York’s largest private real estate development since The Rockefeller Center, it will eventually cover 28 acres, half of which are public open spaces. It hosts a cool 18 million square feet (1.7 million square metres) of offices, apartments, stores, a cultural centre, hotel and much more besides.
Most striking of all is The Vessel, an interactive public monument designed by Thomas Heatherwick which can be climbed for free and seems designed specifically to ensure that you post it on Instagram.
Given its scale, the development is not without controversy, with architecture writer Alan Brake calling it “a billionaire’s fantasy of the future of city life”. But for this visitor from out of town, especially one used to frequenting huge multipurpose developments in Asia, the overall effect was striking in pretty positive ways.