Keith McNally Finds Inspiration in Beautiful FiDi Building (and Being 'Heavily in Debt')

New York is lucky to have so many dining establishments from visionary restaurateur Keith McNally. He creates stunning spaces that are copied by other restaurateurs all around the world. But Kool Keith doesn’t just keep opening restaurants for fun. Sometimes he needs to pay the bills, and he's also got an insane work ethic. The restaurateur tells The Robs about why he was drawn to The Beekman, the Financial District hotel/condo where he’s opening Augustine this fall: "The building’s extraordinary interior attracted me to the project. Plus being heavily in debt and having to work." McNally describes this new restaurant as, "Closer to a French restaurant than a brasserie." So, perhaps it will be more in the vein of his Bowery charmer Cherche Midi than Soho’s perennial favorite, Balthazar. Augustine is slated to open next month with a menu from Daniel Parilla and Shane McBride.

In other fall tracking news, Harold Moore’s long-delayed restaurant in Hudson Square’s Arlo Hotel, Harold’s Meat and Three, is now shooting for a grand opening in September. The cafeteria culture of Nashville, Tennessee is an obvious inspiration, but Moore tells New York: "The food is good but not for New York....People here don’t want steam tables, and they don’t eat heavy on the regular." The photos of the food look absolutely nothing like what you’ll find at a popular meat and three in Nashville, like Arnold’s Country Kitchen. Prices for entrees will run from $19 to $39 at dinner.

This fall, a few more big deal chefs and restaurateurs will also open eating and drinking establishments in hotels around the city. Rob Newton, the chef behind Nightingale 9 and Wilma Jean in Carroll Gardens, is slated to open a restaurant in the Hilton Brooklyn called Black Walnut, which he says will be like "Gjelina meets the South." Philly-based chef Jose Garces, who opened Amada in Brookfield Place earlier this year, has signed on to open a Basque restaurant called Ortzi in the Luma Hotel Times Square. And this fall, Tertulia’s Seamus Mullen will open an as--yet-unnamed restaurant in the 1 Hotel in Brooklyn.

This Fall, Major Chefs Will Focus on Hotel Dining [GS]

All Coverage of Augustine [ENY]