“ I will admit, I did not see this opportunity coming,” says chef Michael Anthony, seated in one of the olive green chenille banquettes in the upper dining room of Lex Yard. It’s still a few weeks before the opening of the renovated Waldorf Astoria’s new flagship restaurant and while the final detailing is underway, the big picture was already in clear focus. 

The handsome dining room is outfitted with Art Deco-inspired decor including gold-tone constellations of orbed light fixtures overhead and the circular green marble tables that will soon host dishes from the chef’s all-day menu.

“In some cases, downplaying the design helps to focus on the food. In this case, the building kind of demanded this sort of attention and thought,” says Anthony, reflecting on the contemporary design conceptualized by AvroKO, which nods to the Art Deco architecture of the Waldorf Astoria. Down a curved staircase, a second level includes a long bar, a lower ceiling and hints of the lively, cozy vibe to come once the sienna leather banquettes are packed with patrons. 

“Now we just have to inhabit this space and make it feel alive and authentic,” says the chef, glancing around the empty room, primed for its first diners.

The first full-time Waldorf Astoria residents have already moved in, and the hotel is readying for its grand opening this summer. New Yorkers have been waiting almost a decade for the hotel, which closed in 2017 for a major renovation, to reopen its doors. “So I think the expectations are really electrified,” he adds, with a calmness that belies the flurry of activity soon to come.

Lex Yard marks the first hotel project for Anthony, who has been the executive chef-partner of Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern for almost two decades. The chef adds that he is still “as in love” with the Flatiron restaurant as ever, and has no intention of leaving.

“But I have more ideas that I’d like to put in motion. And so when a friend asked me if I would be interested in working on the renovation of this beloved hotel — there’s no way it can’t attract your attention,” he says. “I live a few blocks from here, so I’ve been watching — like everybody who lives in the city — what’s happening. And I was immediately intrigued.”

Anthony’s background is in French and Japanese cooking, and the menu at Lex Yard leans on those techniques, channeled through an American lens. But the chef isn’t afraid to break some “rules of classic cooking in the name of eating well.” He’s particularly excited to introduce the relationships he’s forged with farmers through the Union Square Green Market to the uptown hotel. 

“It’s about showing off what’s unique about eating here in New York in a particular season,” Anthony says of his culinary approach at Lex Yard. “ I’m aiming to cook food in a simple way so that it highlights the ingredients and hopefully it can be memorable,” he adds.

“When I say simple, I mean visually attractive and hopefully an indelible image when you see the dish. And then when you taste the flavors, if you can walk away from the table and tell someone about the meal that you’ve had, and remember a dish and a couple of the ingredients, then we’ve succeeded.”

Lex Yard will feature an all-day à la carte menu served in both dining spaces, along with a “market menu” composed of three savory courses and dessert, which will reflect the chef’s in-the-moment point of view. Anthony imagines the market menu as an expression of him walking through the greenmarket, “picking out all the things that I am aiming to eat myself, and translating that to a menu that is simple, that is seasonal, and that hopefully has a level of excellence or an interesting flavor profile; a hook that makes you remember it.”

Anthony is also overseeing the menu for the sprawling hotel lobby cocktail bar, Peacock Alley, and room service.

The Waldorf Astoria is embedded in the city’s history, an icon of the Gilded Age and a luxury setting for New York society throughout the years. The original hotel, built in 1893, was located on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, and in 1931 was rebuilt on a city block that stretches between Park and Lexington Avenues, and 49th and 50th Streets. Lex Yard is named for the building’s physical location atop city train tracks that were used for private transportation of dignitaries and VIPs.

Similarly, Anthony’s menu builds upon the restaurant’s culinary legacy.

The Waldorf Astoria introduced food staples like the eponymous Waldorf Salad and Red Velvet Cake, and popularized dishes like eggs Benedict. Speaking about the hotel’s food legacy, Anthony references a copy of the 1896 cookbook written by famed maitre’d Oscar Tschirky. “ While the recipes are certainly from a time that has long passed, and the way in which people eat has changed radically, the ideas and loving personal touches that he includes in that book are really a great source of inspiration,” Anthony says. “I see this [restaurant] as a continuation of everyone who came here before us. And I hope that we would ultimately make them all feel proud.”

Executive pastry chef Jennie Chiu is paying homage to the red velvet cake with her red velvet souffle tart — “something really simple, but really spectacular,” says Anthony, whose version of the Waldorf Salad is also rooted in an expression of simplicity and elegance. His goal was “to make a salad that you would want to eat every day, that you would come back for specifically because it’s so crunchy, delicious, interesting, and beautiful,” he says.

“This is not gonna be an architectural wonder of the universe,” he adds. “It’s a salad for people who love to eat salads in New York City.”

The salad will retain the primary ingredients that it’s known for, but the accents will change from season to season. For example, the summer version of the salad will highlight sunflower sprouts and toasted sunflower seeds with a bright lemon-y vinaigrette.

In the kitchen, Anthony admires the chef line extending the length of the room and dedicated stations as he passes what he describes as the “Rolls Royce” of oyster stations. Raw bar options will include a seafood tower with local oysters, shrimp from Long Island and a “fully loaded” lobster roll, and a caviar section. At the other end of the line, Anthony stops in front of the “game-changing” broiler, his excitement palpable.

“This broiler has become my best friend. I’ve never cooked a piece of chicken in a better way in all of the time that I’ve been working in kitchens,” he says, opening the door to the equipment’s brief wall of heat. “I just love how the broiler allows me to get this perfectly crispy skin on a boneless marinade piece of chicken. And I can’t wait for people to try that.”

Lex Yard marks a few firsts for the chef: a foray into breakfast, separate from brunch and an ongoing french fry operation with accompanying sauces. In short: Lex Yard is appealing to the Waldorf Astoria masses. The idea is to offer an elevated experience without a sense of the fussiness or stuffiness that can accompany fine dining. “ And certainly it is exempt of the so-called tyranny of the chef,” he adds.

“ We take every filter off of the choice making. If you want that salad and a taste of a fresh chilled soup and a little side of beautiful artichokes that were hand turned and cooked with some white wine — boom, it’s right there in front of you,” he says. “Anyone at the table, no matter how you order, can still order that Smash Burger and french fries.”

Elegant, simple, and appealing to New Yorkers is at the heart of what the chef ultimately hopes to accomplish with Lex Yard. 

“We’ll aim to make guests who stay here feel the elegance that this building represents and that this company has championed for years,” he says. “We have high expectations for the quality of service and food, but my goal is to make people who live in this city and New Yorkers fall in love with this restaurant.”