London’s Bluebird, Momofuku Coming to Time Warner Center
By Liam La Guerre September 12, 2017 6:32 pm
reprints
Bluebird, an eatery by restaurant group D&D London, will open its first New York City outpost in a 10,000-square-foot space at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, landlord Related Companies announced today.
Bluebird will occupy a portion of the third floor of the building, which has an address of 10 Columbus Circle near West 58th Street in The Shops at Columbus Circle. It will occupy space that formerly housed bankrupt Italian restaurant A Voce, according to The New York Times, which first reported news of the deal.
With an original location in London, Bluebird is known for its classic British dishes. The Columbus Circle digs are slated to open in spring 2018.
“I am incredibly excited about us opening Bluebird in New York—we could not have picked a more prime location,” Des Gunewardena, the chairman and chief executive of D&D London, said in prepared remarks. “The Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, with its views over Central Park, is about as good as it gets for a Midtown Manhattan restaurant venue.”
In a separate deal, chef David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar signed a 4,000-square-foot lease for its second restaurant in the Big Apple. It will occupy part of the third floor of the Time Warner Center as well, and plans to serve both lunch and dinner. It hopes to open the new location in mid-2018.
Momofuku has an outlet in the East Village at 171 First Avenue between East 10th and East 11th Streets. Since then the eatery has grown with restaurants in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Sydney and Toronto.
“I remember when the Time Warner Center opened in 2004. There wasn’t anything like it in New York—one building holding some of the best culinary talent in the world,” Chang said in a release. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be able to be a part of the collection down the road.”
That “culinary talent” includes chef Masayoshi Takayama’s Masa, Thomas Keller’s Per Se, chef Michael Lomonaco’s Porter House Bar and Grill and chef Marc Murphy’s Landmarc.
Kevin Stuessi of Related handled the deals for the landlord in-house, and worked directly with the tenants, according to a company spokeswoman, who declined to disclose the terms of the deals.
