Todd English Plans Food Court at the Plaza

Todd English plans to add a food court to the lower level of the Plaza Hotel near the Plaza Retail Collection. Let’s hope this venture adds some life to the area.

This is not your typical, run-of-the-mill food court. English plans to include a variety of food options including prepping stations for, “wood-grilled pizza and flatbreads, burgers and rotisserie foods, seafood and sushi, Asian-style noodles and soups, a wine bar with cheeses and charcuterie, and a coffee and espresso bar with pastries, as well as a demo kitchen for chefs.”

The concept is more of a European-style eatery, think more Harrods rather than Mall of America, and not only will food be prepared and served fresh to order, English also plans to incorporate a retail aspect to the food court. Unlike a traditional mall food court, English’s concept will not include a centralized dining area. Patrons will pull up a chair at the station of their choice, and no worries the staff is flexible about cross ordering.

“It’s a great concept for these times, sitting at a counter and eating what they cook in front of you,” English said. Among other plans for the European style food court are picnic baskets for the park, packaged foods and cookware, and table accessories.

The Plaza hopes to attract some traffic to the otherwise dead retail level. The Plaza Food Hall will be accessible by escalators from Central Park South and the 58^th Street sides of the hotel.