Here's a look at new New York eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this spring. The new and renovated New York venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
A new attraction for groups, Spyscape is an interactive museum about spycraft. The midtown space was designed by the buzzy architecture firm Adjaye Associates and features high-quality audio and lighting design. Guests receive R.F.I.D.-enabled devices upon entry and can use them in experiences that illuminate the art and science of spying. Examples include challenges such as using a profiling system developed with a former British Intelligence official, testing agility in laser-equipped tunnels that recall a movie set, and attempting to fool a lie-detector test. The museum opened in February, and is available as a ticketed experience for groups or as a venue for events of about 600 guests.
Freehand New York hotel opened in the former George Washington Hotel in Flatiron in January. Designed by Roman and Williams, the hotel offers 395 guest rooms—including two penthouse suites—and five dining options, including the Simon & the Whale restaurant and the George Washington Bar, helmed by restaurateur Gabriel Stulman. A rooftop location of the acclaimed Broken Shaker is planned for the spring. The hotel also is launching “The Freehand Fellowship” in partnership with the Bard College MFA program and Live Arts Bard—Bard College’s artist residency and commissioning program—in which selected artists will have the opportunity to live, work, and exhibit at the hotel.
Elsewhere, a 24,000-square-foot nightclub and event in Bushwick, Brooklyn, opened in November. The venue has five separate spaces: two performance rooms, a loft, an art gallery, and a rooftop that’s slated to debut this summer. The Hall, its largest space, holds 675 guests for standing performances or seats 200 theater-style. It also can seat 140 banquet-style. It includes integrated lighting and HD projections, plus a full bar. Befitting a live music venue, the space has professional audiovisual capabilities as well as private green rooms.
Relocated after 10 years in the meatpacking district, Scarpetta New York City opened its new location in NoMad at the James New York hotel in February. The signature restaurant concept from LDV Hospitality, the Italian restaurant is known for its pastas made by hand at the restaurant—dishes include taglierini with knuckle clams, leeks, scallion, and caviar as well as a classic spaghetti with tomato and bail—and also offers fish and meat entrées. The main dining room seats 115 or holds 200 for receptions, and a private dining room seats 30. The Bar at Scarpetta seats 52 or holds receptions of 75. A new cocktail lounge, the Seville, is located underneath the restaurant.
Guerlain Spa moved from the Waldorf Astoria New York to the Plaza, opening in late October. The spa, located on the hotel’s fourth floor, spans 6,500 square feet has 11 treatment rooms, including a couples suite. The space is available for private receptions, lectures, and meetings, and can be booked for full or half days. For meetings elsewhere at the hotel, the spa offers options for group wellness. Its 15-minute “feel-good sessions” range from stretching sessions to guided laughing sessions to get blood flowing, reduce blood pressure, and ease stress. The spa can also arrange for speakers on topics relating to health and wellness.
New Hell’s Kitchen spot Jax B-B-Q brings wood pit barbecue and a rockabilly vibe to its location along Ninth Avenue. The restaurant, which opened in January, seats 60 and comes from Nick Accardi, whose Italian concept Tavola is nearby. In addition to Memphis-style ribs and Carolina pulled pork, the menu offers fried catfish and a selection of burgers. The Americana-style decor includes antique gas station signs and stools from a 1930s-era Woolworth. Buyouts are available.
A newly built property, the Embassy Suites by Hilton New York—Midtown Manhattan opened in January in the city’s garment district. The 310-room hotel includes two spaces for small meetings: The Empire Room holds 40 theater-style or 30 in a classroom set-up, and a boardroom seats eight. In April, the property plans to debut the SkyLawn Bar and Social Space, spanning 3,560 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. The third-floor venue holds 235 guests for a reception.
Micro-hotel company Pod Hotels debuted Pod Times Square in January. The company’s fifth property and flagship offers 665 rooms overall and is the first site with Pod Pads—45 living suites ranging from 600 to 800 feet—that are available for extended stays and long-term leases. The BD Hotels property also includes Parm Restaurant and Tiki Bar, both from Major Food Group.
Mr. White, a New Orleans-inspired restaurant from hospitality veteran Jeffrey White and partners Kelly Rheel and chef Andrew Dunleavy, has the look of a Southern mansion. The space evokes the look and feel of a grand Southern dining room with white marble and gold trim, and seats 25 in the main dining room, 20 at the bar, and 18 in the chef’s counter room. For buyouts, the venue seats 44. Its menu features dishes such as chargrilled oysters, shrimp and grits, crawfish po’boy, and a vegan rib sandwich. Sweets include brûléed bananas with salted caramel gelato, a take on the classic New Orleans dessert bananas foster.
Soogil, a modern Korean restaurant from executive chef and owner Soogil Lim, opened in the East Village in January. Stemming from Lim’s knowledge of Korean food and culinary background in French cooking—gained from his experience at Daniel and Hanjan in New York—the restaurant serves Korean-inspired small plates with French presentations, as well as Korean twists on classic French cocktails. The 850-square-foot space seats 39 guests and is available for buyouts.
