Consider it one of the best food courts in the world: When it opens in fall of 2018, the restaurant collection at Hudson Yards will consist of a dozen dining opportunities curated by chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Thomas Keller. The newest chefs to join the project? Chefs José Andrés and Costas Spiliadis, who are renowned for their small-plate, Spanish, modernist fare (Andrés) and their upscale transformation of rustic-chic space—and seafood (Spiliadis).
Andrés, named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2012 for his dedication to advocacy, food science, and philanthropy, will continue his reinterpretation of Spanish cuisine in what will be his second New York restaurant; after backing out of a deal to open the flagship restaurant in Donald Trump’s new D.C. hotel because of Trump's comments about illegal Mexican immigrants, Andrés is slated to open The Bazaar on Park Avenue South in the summer of 2016. Spiliadis, a Greek native who can largely be thanked for ushering in the concept of high-class Hellenic fare in the U.S., will launch an iteration of Estiatorio Milos, a whitewashed seafood taverna that has existing outposts in Miami, Montreal, Las Vegas, New York, Athens, and London.
A west-side project adjacent to The High Line and sitting at the intersection of Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, Hudson Yards will be about more than just food. Comprising more than 17 million square feet of commercial and residential space, some 5,000 residences, more than 100 shops, and 14 acres of public open space, Hudson Yards will not only be the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center, but will also be the largest private real estate development in the history of the U.S. Some 24 million visitors are expected annually.