Now that Laurent Tourondel settled the lawsuit with former partner Jimmy Haber, he can open restaurants using the BLT name again. But he's not doing that yet. Instead, he's opening an Upper East Side project with club/restaurant titans the Tao Group called Arlington Club this fall. The new project will take over the long-shuttered Payard Patisserie space on Lexington Ave.
The restaurant will seat 200 guests, and it's being pitched as a "prime steakhouse." It will also include a sushi menu by Tourondel, plus 20 wine refrigerators. The space is being designed by the same firm that created the interiors for Lavo and Asellina.
No word yet on when Tourondel's other project, BLT American Brasserie, will open (LT's site says it's still "coming soon"). He launched a Chicago outpost of the concept last year, but it closed after just five months.
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