Lex Yard: Where Art Deco, Carefully Crafted Cocktails, and the New Waldorf Salad Are A Thing
The restaurant seats 220 | Photo provided by Waldorf Astoria NYC
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On the corner of Lexington Avenue and 50th Street, the two-story restaurant offers upscale American dishes and re-imagined iconic Waldorf items, with a farm-to-table focus
The exterior of the Waldorf Astoria NYC | Photo provided by Waldorf Astoria NYC
Before dining at Lex Yard, we urge you to walk through the newly reopened Waldorf Astoria Hotel that opened its doors this summer and started taking reservations in September, after an eight-year renovation. It’s dreamy, gorgeous, and very grown up.
As you enter the hotel, the first thing you’ll notice in the lobby is the Art Deco design that spills over into the 220-seat, 2-level American brasserie that’s Lex Yard. The brasserie gets its name from Lexington Avenue and its proximity to the historic Track 61 train line below the hotel.
There are two private dining rooms on each floor that can accommodate up to 8 guests each. Dining at night creates an intimate ambience in the restaurant, which was designed by AvroKO the firm behind the W Prague, La Méditerannée in Doha, and 1 Hotel in New York. The muted lighting matches with the velvet-upholstered walls, Art Deco motifs, coffered ceilings, brass lightning fixtures, and the coral green and blush pink chairs.
Lex Yard was designed by AvroKO | Photo provided by Waldorf Astoria NYC
There are 2 private dining rooms that can seat 16 people total | Photo provided by Waldorf Astoria NYC
The head chef, Michael Anthony is also executive chef of Gramercy Tavern, and is a James Beard winner. Anthony also oversees the menu at the hotel’s Peacock Alley. Lex Yard’s menu has just enough items to not overwhelm with sections of: caviar, chilled, soups & salads, platters, seasonal vegetables, sea, land, pasta, yard burgers, and sides. After you get comfortably seated, a bread basket with homemade butter is brought out, which pairs well with one of the restaurant’s signature cocktails or mocktails that’s curated by Jeff Bell.
We started with a must-try item, the New Waldorf Salad, an item that Anthony meticulously worked until it reached his satisfaction. It has the perfect blend of apples, celery, grapes, walnuts, and a strong infusion of lemon dressing. The Waldorf Salad is famed and a fixture at most every Waldorf Astoria hotel, though it is said the salad was invented in 1893 at the New York location. Another must-try item is the lobster roll. Cold in temperature, it’s topped with caviar and is fully loaded with truffle, trout roe, and shiso. There’s a kick to it and it shares perfectly for two when ordering other starters.
If you’re a pasta fiend then you won’t be disappointed. We ordered the Mushroom Tagliatelle that’s made with a cream and cheese sauce, bacon, and black pepper. Full of flavor, it’s salted just right. The Leek Ravioli with basil, pine nuts, and summer squash sauce has a faint hint of sweetness to it. The ravioli is al dente, which somehow makes the dish all the more enjoyable.
The Lamb Chops with creamed spinach, potato puffs, and lamb sauce cooked medium rare was one of the best items we tasted. Melting in your mouth, everything flowed together on the taste buds and is worth ordering if lamb is your thing.
For dessert, the Red Velvet Soufflé is a Waldorf Astoria iconic item. It comes with cheese-raspberry swirl ice cream. If you have space, the desserts are curated by Executive Pastry Chef Jennie Chiu. Cracking her teeth as a pastry chef at the Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono in Hokkaido, Japan, the Banyan Tree in Kyoto, and the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California, before Lex Yard, Chiu brings over a decade of experience to all thing’s pastries.
We urge you to take your time in ordering. Go for a nice cocktail and starter, and lazily order the next item. This allows for genuine slow dining, where you can take in the ambience and enjoy conversation. This isn’t an experience to be rushed. There’s no other city in the world like New York. If you leave the restaurant from the Lexington Avenue entrance, the first thing you notice is the Chrysler Building, a reminder that dining at places like Lex Yard in one of the best cities in the world is both a privilege and a culinary delight.
550 Lexington Avenue NYC (Midtown) | Phone +1.212.355.3000All day dining: Breakfast 6:30-10:30am | Lunch 11:30-3pm | Dinner 5-10pm Sunday-Thursday; 5-11pm Friday-Saturday