Vicious Article on TAK

Wow!

The real question for me is it a good or bad thing that many restaurants move into places like Hudson Yards seduced by seemingly attractive rent deals. I just have no interest in going to places like this as it lacks soul for me. It saddens me that Ssam Bar is moving from the East Village to a new development in South Street Seaport.

The most common argument for is that it keeps many people employed.

I’m curious whether the Hudson Yards restaurant structure replicates the Time Warner Center/Las Vegas resort model where the developer owns the flagship restaurants and the restaurateurs have participating management deals, but little to no skin in the game.

Sutton really really hates malls.

Went to TAK Room late last year with a large cadre of friends. The place/ambiance was elegant without a doubt. The food was well-executed without a doubt. Service was too efficient and soulless…without a doubt. At two points, my then fiancee’s wine glass was removed while there was still some wine in it; but everything happened so quickly we couldn’t even object in time.

I’ll leave the bill to your imaginations.

I would have demanded a full replacement, at no extra charge.

I’m not a fan of Sutton and this article is in bad taste IMO. So many restaurants struggling and people out of work and he decides to kick a restaurant as it closes. I’ve been to Hudson Yards twice. Once with a friend who lives in NY and wanted to check out Kawi, which was actually very enjoyable. The other time was a business dinner with some bankers that hosted us at TAK. If I were choosing the restaurant I probably would not have picked TAK, but I have to say it was a great experience. Perfectly done martini to start, good starters and sides and my Dover Sole main was one of the best versions of that dish I have had. Service was warm and easy. Now again it wouldn’t have been my first choice but that just shows how spoiled for choices NY is. I don’t live in a great restaurant town and would love to have a restaurant like TAK where I live.

I get it that the mall doesn’t feel very NY and again if I were in NY I would want that more classic NY experience. That said, with how expensive it is to open and run a restaurant, its hard to fault these chefs for working with these types of developments or hotels where they cover a lot of the costs.

Do people still frequent uber expensive steak houses?

Define uber expensive steak houses. Also, define “still.” Not a lot of people are frequenting any kind of restaurant, at least in New York, these days.

In my NJ burb the fancy new steakhouse seems to be getting quite a lot of business in their outdoor tent.

What could possibly be bad about restaurants moving to places with good rent prices? I support the success of good restaurants no matter where they are. It’s not a zero-sum game.

A lot bundled here = hitting the restaurant while it’s down, rent subsidies, etc.

I didn’t have a problem with the article, I don’t want just happy news or rah-rah supportive journalism. More rough than I would have penned - yes. Seemingly supported by solid observations/evaluations, yes.

As far as rent subsidies, I assume they are funded by public tax dollars. If that’s the case, then I’d argue the reasons (lack of inventiveness of the food) is misplaced (should have been that it was a place for the rich) but the vehemence should even be stronger to match my fellings.

No different than public finding of stadiums where city after city gets played for the chump. Say no to public finding enough times and guess what happens, - private funding comes through (as long as there isn’t another chump city down the road). Has it made going to the ballpark more affordable - not at all. Just went into the owners and players pockets. Facilitating fun for the 1% who go to those restaurants is dramatically more egregious.

vicous? yes. lazy? even moreso.

he’s really trying with all his might to elevate tak room for the single purpose of tearing it down to fit a clickbait narrative. it was never that good, or that busy, or that relevant to begin with.

the fact is that keller had a business opportunity that few chefs or any business people would turn down. that hudson yards is far, ugly, boring, and pointless is not keller’s fault.

Ain’t that the truth. It’s even worse than Time Warner Center’s retail design, which I thought was near impossible.

That is a great question. I went to Momofuku Kāwi in Hudson Yards because I like the chef and was curious. I had a really good meal. I will most likely never go back. I have eaten at Momofuku Ssam and Noodle bar over 100x as it defines my neighborhood and both were game changing restaurants.

Never been to TAK so can’t comment on experience. I think article could have been much more focused (and kind) if it made its point more clear. I think behind all of the TAK musings and negativity was a bigger thesis about whether NYC should take into account more cultural factors versus economic factors when determining tax incentives for projects like Hudson Yards. The economics of a mixed use project are also not a la carte. Any rent incentives TAK, or David chang or any other high profile restaurant got are likely far removed from PILOT incentives and more based on ability of those chefs to bring higher value to residential, office and other retail components or project. I would expect that Related knows better than NY Times food writer about which restaurants and chefs will allow them to charge more or better attract high value customers for apartments and office and allow for faster and higher value lease out of non-F&B retail. I’d also add that in terms of culture and accessibility I’m a huge fan of mercato little Spain - I went at least 5/6 times before CV19. The area on ground floor dedicated to traditional and modern Spanish elements, rich with culture and new cuisine opportunities (as well as very reasonable price point in Spanish diner and other areas) are likely the same scale in square footage as the total area dedicated to Milo’s, TAK, and the other 5th floor higher prices options.