Dynamic Crew Behind Quality Meats Will Open a French Restaurant Next

The team behind packed, consistent steakhouses like Quality Meats will apparently be going French for its new Midtown restaurant. Quality Branded — which announced plans for a new restaurant last year — will be going for a version of a classic, meaty French brasserie with Quality Bistro, set to open this fall at 120 West 55th St., Sixth and Seventh avenues.

The chef here will be Quality Meats’ Antonio Mora, who previously worked at Daniel and Frankie’s. The new 200-seat restaurant will serve updated takes on traditional fine dining dishes, such as prime rib wellington, a caesar salad with dandelion, and an escargot Rockefeller. And the space — designed by AvroKo, the firm behind Gotham West Market and Beauty and Essex — will be evocative of French Belle Époque era, with modern additions.

It’s the 12th whopping restaurant for Quality Branded, which has become a growing powerhouse for consistent and comfortable venues. Founded by father-son duo Alan and Michael Stillman, the company owns steakhouse icon Smith & Wollensky and has since expanded nationally with contemporary versions of stand-by NYC restaurant genres. Quality Eats is a leaner version of a steakhouse, Quality Italian is the Italian steakhouse option, and Don Angie is a modern-day red sauce restaurant. They’ve largely been popular both with diners and critics; in 2018, Don Angie received two stars from Eater’s critic Ryan Sutton and the Times’ Pete Wells.

Quality Bistro sounds like it abides by a similar formula. According to a report last year, the company signed a 20-year-lease for the space. Stay tuned for more.