The team behind Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad, two of the city’s top restaurants, will launch a huge, two-level dining venue in 2018 at all new 425 Park Ave.
The dramatically styled, steel-frame edifice designed by Sir Norman Foster, on the site of what’s now an obsolete 1950s office building.
Ground broke last month on the new, 670,000 square-foot tower developed by L&L Holding with partners GreenOak Real Estate Advisors and Tokyu Land Corp.
Plans were announced long ago for what’s described as “the first full-block office tower to rise on Park Avenue in half a century.”
But the restaurant deal comes as a surprise.
L&L principals David W. Levinson and Robert Lapidus were joined at the ceremony by chef Daniel Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara, who will open a 14,000 square-foot, two-level, public eatery on the new building’s East 56th Street corner and side.
Eleven Madison is one of the nation’s premier restaurants, boasting four-star critics’ ratings and three Michelin stars. The three-star NoMad is also celebrated with three critics’ stars and one Michelin star.
But the 425 Park Ave. announcement amounts to a giant step for the team, which has avoided over-expansion.
An exuberant Levinson said of Humm and Guidara: “They are going for No. 1 in the world. It will be a Four Seasons on steroids for the 21st century,” referencing the fabled landmark a few blocks south. It’s losing its lease next year.
The yet-to-be-named dining venues also will be designed by Foster. “Norman is one of our favorite architects in the world, and what he and David are creating is nothing short of extraordinary,” Guidara said.
Humm said, “It is truly an honor to be launching a restaurant in the same area that’s been home to the greats, that have inspired us all throughout our careers.”
