Famed NYC office tower lures Michelin-starred chef amid Midtown food boom
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High-end sushi, Korean-inspired steak and American favorites will be on the menu at three new restaurants slated to open at the former Sony building in Manhattan, The Post has learned.
The distinct dining venues at 550 Madison Avenue — the landmarked tower that’s home to Hermes, Chubb and Corsair Capital — were revealed for the first time Monday by Simon Kim’s Gracious Hospitality Group.
Last year, Kim had signed a lease for a “multi-faceted,” 15,000 square-foot restaurant space at the Midtown tower, as The Post first reported, but what types of restaurants they would be remained a secret until now.
The “exclusive” sushi restaurant will be helmed by Japan’s celebrated chef Masahiro Yoshitake, who holds multiple Michelin stars in Tokyo and Hong Kong. It will be located on the mezzanine level.
COTE, Kim’s insanely popular marriage of Korean barbecue and American steakhouse styles, will launch its second New York location in the tower’s below-ground level. The ground floor, meanwhile, will house an all-day, broad-appeal “dining and bar concept.”
The restaurants will offer “transportive, immersive and never-before-seen dining experiences” and the “out-of the-box approaches will set the stage for the future of hospitality,” Kim told The Post.
The entrance for all three venues 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 at the tower, which Olayan America transformed into a top-tier office location charging tenants up to $200 per square foot.
However, diners will have to wait until late next year to get their first taste due to the complexity of planning and architecture, Kim said.
The tower is one of many to sign marquee chefs to burnish their images and to lure high-paying 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 one: 144,000 square feet for private investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice last June.
The tower is now between 80% and 90% leased.
