We’ll finally get the sky-high restaurant we’ve yearned for since we lost Windows on the World on 9/11.
Peak, a 10,000-square-foot eatery, cocktail bar and event space, will open March 12 on the 101st floor of 30 Hudson Yards, the sprawling complex’s tallest skyscraper. Although Windows was much larger, Peak’s views are better — thanks to its mid-Manhattan location and wider windows than early 1970s engineering allowed.
Peak is one floor higher than Edge, the western hemisphere’s highest outdoor observation deck, also set to open in March. Even on a cloudy day, I could see everything from the Palisades to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the ocean beyond from the restaurant’s windows.
These exclusive renderings show David Rockwell’s sleek designs. Peak boasts a U-shaped marble bar, dark oak floors, marble and wood tabletops, and plushly upholstered banquettes and chairs. A mirror-polished metal ceiling will reflect the skyline.
There are views on all sides. But the money shot — the south-facing view of downtown, the harbor and sunsets — is given to the two-tiered, 110-seat dining room and 45-seat bar, where customers can savor the view as they sip.
Peak is unlike any of the city’s other top-floor restaurants. Unlike the Rainbow Room, which caters chiefly to private events, Peak will be truly open to the public. Executive chef Christopher Cryer’s modern-American menu is a la carte, unlike the $94 prix fixe at Manhatta (which is also 40 floors lower).
Finally, unlike limited-view One Dine at the World Trade Center, it won’t cost you a $35-per-person observatory fee to enter Peak’s dining room.
Dishes, organized by land, sea or “garden,” will run $17 to $25 for starters, $30 to $55 for entrees and $15 to $20 for desserts. The focus is on sustainable products from local fishermen, farmers and purveyors.
But will people care about any of that when they’re dining at 1,149 feet up?
“Yes, absolutely,” says P.B. Jacobse, head of operator RHC, the American division of the London-based hospitality company called rhubarb. “People care very much about sustainability.” He noted that Cryer, who headed the culinary team at the city’s six Seamore’s locations, is a leader of the James Beard Foundation Smart Catch program.
Peak’s been in the works for two years. RHC will manage the restaurant as well as a cozy new lounge on the mall’s fifth floor next to RHC’s Asian-inspired eatery Wild Ink. Express elevators will whisk guests from the lounge to the 101st floor.
Reservations will be taken starting on Feb. 17. “We have a lot of work to do in eight weeks,” Jacobse says of the rooms’ still-raw look before furnishings arrive. “But we’re excited.”