Thomas Keller’s Hudson Yards Restaurant Is Now Taking Reservations

Reservations are now live for Thomas Keller’s big Hudson Yards debut TAK Room — but alas, the first three weeks available have already booked up for tables for 2 or more at the mid-century American restaurant. A solo diner has several selections, though. The restaurant, which seats about 180, also accepts walk-ins. Eater has reached out to the team for info on how many spaces are reserved for that.

Perhaps most unexpected, TAK Room’s Resy page claims that people will spend just about $50 per person on a meal at the fifth- and sixth-floor restaurant at the Shops at Hudson Yards. That would be a downright steal for any fine dining restaurant, let alone a Keller one that’s being marketed as glamorous and elegant.

But word is that the TAK Room menu is similar in content and pricing to the one at the Surf Club, Keller’s spendy Miami restaurant that also serves continental cuisine. There, a Caesar salad costs $20 and a ribeye costs $75, according to an online menu. Still, it’s a far cry from the cost of dining at the chef’s other NYC restaurant Per Se, which currently charges $355-per-person for a tasting menu before wine. Eater has reached out to the Keller team for more info on pricing TAK as well.

Keller has insisted that he wants this restaurant to be “fun.” Champagne carts and live music are planned in the dining room, which has views of the $25 billion development, deep green chairs, velvet banquettes, white tablecloths, and a spiral staircase.

The Tuesday night Instagram circuit also revealed that the chef himself carved prime rib in front of diners — which makes TAK Room sound even more like the Grill, the acclaimed Major Food Group restaurant where tableside prime rib carving has become a signature and critic favorite. Many diners have also been posting photos of a bucket of caramel popcorn in a vintage container from private parties, a carnival food that feels like a riff on the famous cotton candy at the original Four Seasons Restaurant. Other dishes on the throwback American menu include Dover sole, clams casino, roasted chicken for two, strip steak, and oyster Rockefeller.

TAK Room is Keller’s first NYC restaurant in about a decade — a big deal considering the chef’s influence. But though Keller is an icon, he’s been criticized more recently for not adapting to the times.

Stay tuned for more.