When Ian Schrager met chef Yuji Wakiya, the stage was set for yet another glamorous midtown venue to satisfy New York’s hip diners.
Managed by the team behind Nobu, Wakiya takes Chinese gastronomy through a Japanese point of view, but it’s the design perspective that is most striking.
Bold red and black fabrics colour the long, geometrical dining area and low-set tables and dark satin sofas are curtained off from the central walkway by tasselled rope. Black and gold brocade wall panels exude a kind of imperial Eurasian decadence, while sections of exposed dark brickwork add a nice Manhattan vibe to the mix.
Make the leap from the visual to the flavourful with a steamy soup of Shanghai dumplings in a gingery broth. The unmistakable hits of Wakiya’s Szechuan-meets-Canton-in-Tokyo offerings, though, are a tangy dish of fried rice wrapped in a thick omlette drizzled with homemade XO sauce and the signature lychee-scented mango pudding. Served in a small dish atop a delicate tea kettle with billowing clouds of dry-ice vapor, it’s just as brilliantly visual as the venue.
INFORMATION
- Website
- http://www.gramercyparkhotel.com
- Telephone
- 1.212 995 1330
- Address
- 2 Lexington Ave
New York
