The famed Backyard restaurant on the 4 Seasons Resort appears prefer it was caught in a time warp as the long-lasting property lastly reopened its doorways Friday after being shuttered for 4 years.
The very same 20-foot-tall acacia bushes nonetheless soared majestically among the many similar 86 seats that made the Backyard a favourite vacation spot for locals and vacationers alike throughout its heyday.
However an unique tour of the property and sit-down with the Backyard’s new govt chef earlier this week revealed there are many modifications — and never simply on the menu — on the lodge owned by Beanie Infants billionaire Ty Warner.
Maria Tampakis – who beforehand labored for Heston Blumenthal in London in addition to Gordon Ramsay, and most not too long ago helmed the kitchen on the 4 Seasons in downtown Manhattan – plans to play on the nostalgia whereas including as many twists because the undulating bushes within the Backyard.
“People are nostalgic for the classics they remember, but I’m going to do them differently, so they’ll remember the flavor, but it will be in a new dish,” Tampakis, the restaurant’s first feminine govt chef in a long time, informed Facet Dish.
She cited a signature “Steak Diane” tartare for instance. The flavors of cognac and wild mushroom will likely be was an emulsion and folded into the steak tartare.
There are different decadent delights on the revamped menu, together with foie gras parfait within the form of an apple, “welcoming you back to the Big Apple,” Tampakis beamed, in addition to lobster thermidor.
New dishes can even embody a tiered platter of smoked fish — a basic a part of New York’s delicacies for greater than 100 years — served with mini bagels and a caviar possibility. There can even be severe classics, like Beef Wellington however with a twist — served with shaved truffles and truffle cream.
The Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, native – who now lives on Staten Island together with her household – mentioned the dishes will likely be northern Italian influenced. They embody a panettone French toast, in addition to agnolotti filled with brief ribs and caramelized onion and pecorino fondue.
Nonetheless, she does plan to maintain the all the time common lemon ricotta pancakes.
Apart from the Backyard, one other common spot that has hardly modified on the 52-story Artwork-Deco lodge, designed by I.M. Pei, is the Ty Bar, previously known as the Ty Lounge.
Named for the lodge’s reclusive proprietor, it stays within the grand foyer, with its 33-foot-high glass ceiling and marble columns. Ty Bar options cozy lounge tables and chairs for small events, giving the open area an intimate really feel, although diner faves just like the Korean beef tacos, will now not be on the menu.
“When we came back in here, the vision was very clear,” Tampakis mentioned. “We didn’t want to mess with the bones. It was so important for everyone who came through here. It triggered a core memory of the last time they were here and so the direction was, ‘We aren’t going to change the footprint, but we will change the food and elevate it.’”
Ty Bar will serve some luxe bites together with craft drinks that run by means of town’s cocktail eras “sip-by-sip,” beginning with Gilded Age-inspired “Ty Manhattans,” to a “Don Draper”-style three martini lunch flight to the “5th Ave. Cosmo.”
Though the cocktails are classics, all of them include a twist. A gin and tonic, for instance, may include a fragile pear flavored observe, or sage and rosemary flavors that unexpectedly work.
“You can go anywhere, so we want not just good, but great bar food. We want to take you to the next level so you want to come back to try the rest,” she mentioned.
Through the preopening go to on Wednesday, Tampakis took a break from working — which included tasting a brand new pasta dish, and instructing the cook dinner to make the flavour a tad extra refined — to speak concerning the lodge’s historical past.
She famous how a lot of the entrance of the home workers will likely be “the same faces you remember,” a lot of whom have labored right here for 30 years, whereas about 55% of the kitchen workers would be the similar, giving her an opportunity to herald some new power too.
“I’m conscious of the struggles we’ll face with a team that hasn’t been here for four years,” Tampakis mentioned. “But this is such an iconic property, and it’s such an incredible opportunity to bring new life here, a new facelift, a new experience.”
The swanky tower at 57 E. 57th St. will now have 219 lodge rooms from flooring 20 to 52, whereas long-term leases will likely be from the fifth flooring to the nineteenth flooring.
Sizing down is the development today “to better focus on the guests we have. There is so much potential,” mentioned Tampakis, who can also be in command of room service.
As The Submit reported, the 4 Seasons is poised to revive its declare as New York Metropolis’s priciest lodge, with rooms beginning at $2,450 and the Ty Warner suite priced at an eye-popping $80,000 an evening.
