Surprise! The city’s newest scene for feasting and socializing isn’t in Greenwich Village or on the Brooklyn waterfront, but—gasp—the World Trade Center.
The Big Apple’s most emotionally charged 16 acres have clicked as a festive eating destination after a slow start. Forget the mediocre fast-casual spots in the Oculus mall—three thriving, sit-down restaurants give the place some badly needed culinary creds.
No one forgets the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11 who are commemorated in the Memorial pools and museum that draw a combined 14 million annual visitors.
But a quarter-century later, New Yorkers can celebrate the World Trade Center’s stirring rebirth. Some 40,000 people work in great new office towers, soon to be joined by a new skyscraper for Amex.
Metropolis, from Red Rooster chef/owner Marcus Samuelsson, is the brightest star in an eating constellation that also boasts the sprawling Eataly and the newest outpost of popular Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao.
(There’s also the relatively small One Dine at the top of One World Trade Center, but you can’t go without also paying at least $34 per person for an Observatory ticket.)
Since it launched inside the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the foot of One World Trade Center two years ago, Metropolis, colorfully designed by David Rockwell, has matured into a destination for sparkling American food.
Up to 200 customers at a time come for lunch or dinner beneath undulating wood ribbons across the dining room ceiling, on an open outdoor terrace, and in a second-floor outdoor lobby that the restaurant shares with the arts center.
The lobby serves as a platform for DJs and free live performances programmed by the Perelman Center. They bring a growing sense of fun to the complex, which many New Yorkers once regarded as too sacred a ground to allow partying.
The festive energy thrills Samuelsson, whose connection to the World Trade Center dates back to occasional events he ran at the fabled Windows on the World.
“The fact that we’re so busy and packed at night at this special location is very gratifying to me,” he told me.
The Metropolis menu turned out by chef Gregori Pena boasts New York-themed dishes like the Harlem Express—a trio of crispy and sweet fried chicken parts served with creamy grits—and the Upper West Side steak tartare topped with béarnaise, tamari-cured egg yolk, and trout roe.
Not to be missed are warm fried olives, filled with tiny, tangy cornichons and resembling popcorn shrimp. Spicy mustard elevates them to a new level of “bar snacks” to enjoy at tables.
Samuelsson, who lives in Harlem, is committed to all of the city’s neighborhoods. Metropolis runs a “Subway Series,” a seasonal pop-up program on the terrace to showcase local chefs who don’t have their own restaurants.
Fogo de Chao, on the ground floor of Three World Trade Center, boasts an open churrasco grill where gaucho chefs butcher, prepare, and grill different cuts of meat over an open flame. The restaurant offers a wealth of special summer events, including a surf-and-turf cocktail party on July 23 that will include tastings of fire-roasted cuts and seafood favorites.
Eataly, the sprawling market and noshing venue on the entire second floor of Four World Trade Center, first brought truly fine food to the site ten years ago. Its separate restaurant, Bar Firenze, and several casual dining areas have been packed ever since.
Customers come for consistently good Italian dishes—especially al dente pasta and marvelous salads—and for rotating promotions such as a Summer of Pesto celebration from July 16 to August 2, featuring a limited-time prix-fixe menu starting at just $26.
People come for the views, too. Firenze looks down on the monumental, dome-topped Saint Nicholas National Shrine.
From La Pizza & La Pasta, I was awed by the sight of the memorial covered in summer green—a reminder of 9/11, but also of the World Trade Center’s stirring regeneration since then.
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