GOOD TASTE!
Want to meet up with friends for a fancy (or fun) dining experience? Just head to the nearest NYC department store
By BETH LANDMAN W
HEN Nordstrom unveiled its Midtown flagship store in October, it brought with it a bunch of new restaurants — several collaborations with high-profile chefs — including an edgy doughnut shop.
But Nordstrom is not alone. Saks opened an outpost of the popular Parisian haunt L’Avenue last year that’s had trendy diners trekking to the store ever since.
Over at Hudson Yards, a place awash with restaurants, Neiman Marcus went ahead and created two of its own. And with the future of Barneys up in the air, fans of the Madison Avenue store’s dining destination, Freds, may have to find new haute haunts at Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman, both of which are about to open new restaurants of their own.
Dining options have become as essential to department stores as their shoe floors for creating experience, building brand loyalty and attracting new customers.
And there’s no better time to try them than during the hectic holiday-shopping season, when you can take a break and refuel without leaving the store — and even stop at the beauty counter to spruce up en route!
The new Nordstrom, the beloved
and long-awaited emporium, arrived in Midtown last month with Chloé, Givenchy, Prada and seven eateries!
Wolf, a collaboration with Seattle chef Ethan Stowell, offers lots of small plates such as duck egg with wild mushrooms, oregano and Parmigiano-Reggiano ($17); pastas such as spaghetti with uni butter ($22); and entrees including Mishima Reserve rib-eye cap ($42). Sip a Part Time Model (vodka, pomegranate juice, soda and lime; $17) and eat at the long stone bar or a table where you can see a parade of pedestrians from the second-floor perch.
“If Nordstrom has VIPS, they send them to us and buy them an appetizer or a drink,” says Wolf chef Ethan Stowell.
Seattle chef Tom Douglas collaborated on three lower-level restaurants. Casual eatery Jeannie’s, next to the children’s and home departments, focuses on thin-crust pizza, including a fennel-sausage pie ($18) and a roasted-oyster version ($19). It also serves sandwiches known as “toasties’’ (try the eggplant parmesan; $15), along with gelato, wine and beer. Hani Pacific, a fanciful and colorful room with murals of sea creatures, has a menu that highlights small plates, such as hoisin duck and green papaya salad ($18), and larger meals such as a six-grain rice bowl with grilled lobster tail ($26). But the most popular spot may end up being a takeout doughnut-mochi hybrid shop called Oh Mochi!
Bistro Verde, an open room on five with floor-to-ceiling windows, a bar and lounge seating, serves international fare from sakemarinated cod ($26) to skirtsteak frites ($25.75). Nordstrom also has two separate cocktail lounges with the same menu — the lower-level Shoe Bar, where you can devour a cilantro lime chicken taco ($14) and sip a Billionaire with Maker’s Mark and absinthe ($17) while trying on your Blahniks, and the cushier Broadway Bar next to designer dresses, ideal for a break, with couches and TVs.
And it’s not only shoppers who benefit from in-stores eateries, says Stowell.
“On the upside, we can piggyback on their building maintenance — if an oven or fryer goes down, we just call.”
Nordstrom, 225 W. 57th St.; 212-295-2000.