Stephen Starr is adding another restaurant to his eponymous restaurant group’s impressive roster with Verōnika, located on the second floor of the new 45,000-square-foot Fotografiska photography museum at 22nd Street and Park Avenue South. Named for the patron saint of photography, the eatery gives a nod to Old World cafés of London, Paris and Vienna, and officially opens to the public tonight.
Designed by local firm Roman and Williams—whose high-profile commissioned works include the Ace Hotel New York, Freehand Hotels, Le Coucou and the British Galleries for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name a few—the restaurant features the building’s original 20-foot ceilings, Black St. Laurent marble bar, 146 seats and grandiose brass chandeliers.
Executive chef Robert Aikens (formerly of The Rainbow Room in NYC, Starr’s The Dandelion in Philadelphia and Le Gavroche in London) helms the kitchen, bringing forth a menu fitting for the space with rich dishes including potato pierogies with sour cream and caviar, lamb goulash with buttermilk spätzle, and salmon coulibiac with mushroom-dill duxelles and lemon rice. Executive pastry chef Becca Punch of Eleven Madison Park and The Modern fame oversees the dessert menu, which includes Viennese classics like Charlotte Royale and medovik—an eight-layer honey cake—to be presented tableside.
Stockholm-based Fotografiska was founded in 2010 by brothers Jan and Per Broman; opened last month, this is the first stateside outpost of their global expansion and Starr’s first time working with the group. (Starr has also opened a cocktail lounge in the adjoining restored cathedral, the aptly-named The Chapel Bar at Fotografiska.)
Verōnika is located at 281 Park Avenue South and is open from Sunday to Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Lunch and brunch will be offered in the near future.
Image courtesy of Verōnika/Facebook.
