Au Cheval Owner Opens Swank Rooftop Restaurant in Meatpacking

Famed Chicago restaurateur Brendan Sodikoff — known for epic burgers at Au Cheval and luxe steakhouse vibes here in NYC at 4 Charles Prime Rib — has opened another stylish spot, this time on a rooftop in the Meatpacking District.

RH Rooftop Restaurant is a collaboration with the furniture store formerly known as Restoration Hardware, with the first four floors dedicated to showroom space, art installations, a coffee bar, and wine terrace. It’s all called RH New York, but the top 10,000 square feet are Sodikoff’s domain. This is his sixth restaurant with RH, this one located at 9 Ninth Ave., at Little West 12th Street. Those with long memories will remember it as the former location of Pastis, arguably restaurateur Keith McNally’s most sceney spot.

The menu at RH Rooftop Restaurant, in full below, is pretty standard American fare, such as shrimp cocktail, roast chicken, kale caesar, and a lobster roll. Of course there’s a burger, too, for which Sodikoff is known at his Au Cheval. (That will also open here in NYC by year’s end.) At RH Rooftop Restaurant, it’s two patties with “sharp” American cheese, pickles, onion, dijonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. Drinks include cold-pressed juices, coffee, and tea, as well as beer and wine mainly from California, France, and Italy.

The space is as decked out as one would expect from an RH project. The interior, seating just over 100, is full of crystal chandeliers, manicured hedges, and marble tabletops. A glass roof and walls means unobscured views of the surrounding skyline. Then there’s the outdoor wine terrace, which wraps the entire restaurant in greenery, though thats only open in warmer weather.

Retail restaurants are definitely having a moment right now in NYC — there’s Tiffany’s Blue Box Cafe and El Rey Annex in Todd Snyder’s flagship store — but unlike some such as La Mercerie in the RW Guild, none of the furniture is for sale at RH Rooftop Restaurant. Sodikoff says it’s more of an amenity for those in the building, though with his name attached, the restaurant is sure to turn into more of a scene. Reviews of the original Chicago location tend to mention very posh vibes.

RH Rooftop Restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., soon to be 8 p.m.

RH New York [Official Photo]