Table for Two? Presenting the Hudson Garden Grill, NYBG’s Latest Dining Experience

Posted in Around the Garden on April 9 2015, by Lansing Moore

Next Tuesday, April 14th, we are thrilled to announce that we will open NYBG’s first ever full-service, sit-down restaurant! Hudson Garden Grill will be open to both Garden visitors and the general public looking for a seasonal, locally sourced dining experience. The latest exciting phase in our partnership with Stephen STARR Events will feature a multi-course lunch menu of refined New American cuisine inspired by locally sourced and ethically produced ingredients. Visit the new establishment for a light breakfast, afternoon tea and light fare, or an early supper during an upcoming visit to the garden.

Hudson Valley farms and other regional producers such as Hudson Valley Duck Farm, Heather Ridge Farm, and Old Chatham Sheepherding Company will provide the highest quality ingredients to Executive Chef Julian Alonzo and his team. Julian attended the French Culinary Institute, honing his skills at both La Caravelle and Maxim’s under Chef David Ruggiero, and was later named “Alumni Chef of the Year.” After receiving praise from Crain’s New York Business and an invitation to cook at the James Beard Foundation, Julian seeks to bring innovative, restaurant-inspired fare to the world of catering and special events.

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Nestled within the Garden’s 40-acre Ross Conifer Arboretum and in sight of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Hudson Garden Grill arguably offers one of the most beautiful natural settings in New York. “Very few restaurants in New York have the luxury of such beautiful surroundings to serve as inspiration. With the Hudson Garden Grill, we are bringing a sense of nature, beauty, and seasonality to all aspects of its culinary offerings and design,” comments Simon Powles, President of Stephen STARR Events. “It has been an incredible experience working with the team at the New York Botanical Garden to bring this creative, stylish, and innovative restaurant to one of New York’s most important destinations.”

With the building’s original architecture as its heart, the picturesque restaurant offers a true “Garden experience,” with total seating for 200–120 outside on a stunning patio and 80 indoors. A fully expanded, open kitchen designed for “exhibition cooking” greets guests with immediate activity as they enter the foyer or sit at the long walnut bar, which seats 18 people. In the main dining room, which can be used as a private event space, accents of blackened steel and oxidized copper complement whitewashed, rough-sawn vertical red oak wall panels made from reclaimed trees felled in the Garden during Hurricane Sandy.

Expanded food and beverage offerings begin on May 16, with the opening of NYBG’s blockbuster summer exhibition, FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life, the first solo presentation of Kahlo’s work in New York City in more than 10 years. Hudson Garden Grill will offer a special prix fixe menu related to the exhibit, and Stephen STARR Events will launch ‘Frida al Fresco’—an outdoor Tequila Bar and cantina plus a new taco truck serving delicious Mexican fare inspired by Kahlo’s own recipes. Hudson Garden Grill will be open from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Coffee will be served from 10 to 11:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and light fare from 2:30 to 6 p.m.