The high-end retail stores in the basement of the Plaza—which include
Maurice Fine Jewelry, Krigler perfumes and, in a recent addition,
Emmanuel Ungaro—have been struggling to attract patrons since the
unveiling of the underground mini-mall two years ago. But the
beleaguered Shops at the Plaza may have found their savior in Todd
English's Food Hall.The concept, which opens today, is a condensed version of Harrod’s famous food hall, with a slew of bar areas featuring different cuisines interspersed with sales displays of artisanal food products and fancy kitchen tools. Among the offerings are The Ocean Grill and Oyster Bar, featuring a full raw bar, grilled fish and a lobster roll; a brick oven pizza and salad station (where I sampled a heavenly arugula-mozzarella-fontina pie at last night’s sneak peek of the place); a sushi bar; a noodle and dumpling area; a tapas and wine station; a grill featuring burgers, lamb gyros, steaks, and a carving station; a cheese and charcuterie bar; and a delightful bakery offering homemade candies, maccarons, tarts and cupcakes by CurlyCakes, a company that the one-time runaway groom launched with his teenaged daughter.
English says that the challenge was paring down his ideas. “I wanted to
do a tandoori oven, for instance,” he said, “but there just wasn’t
enough room for everything.”
The Food Hall was not a late-game idea designed to save the shops,
according to Miki Naftali, the president and CEO of El Ad, which bought
the Plaza in 2004. “It just took many years to find someone who shared
my vision of a European-style food hall,” says Naftali. In any case, the
option to dine in or take out from the halls will surely buoy the
adjacent shops. They won’t be helped, though, by the feature that will
most delight nearby office dwellers: delivery service, from 8th Avenue
to Lexington and 54th Street to 64th Street.
From left, Miki Naftali, Todd English and Jeffrey Beers.Photos: Evan Sung
