The group has secured a 10,400 sq ft space on the third floor of the upscale Time Warner Centre, a luxury retail and residential building overlooking Central Park.
A New York-based chef will be appointed to head up the kitchen, while Cetra Ruddy, the interior design team behind Sushisamba, is to create the interior.
British invasion
D&D chairman Des Gunewardena says the move across the pond is part of a wider plan to expand the Bluebird brand and expand D&D’s presence overseas.
The original Bluebird opened 20 years ago at the former home of the Bluebird Motor Company in Chelsea and D&D is to open a second site at the former BBC Television Centre in White City in 2018.
“We think that Bluebird encapsulates much of the buzz and glamour of the London restaurant scene today and will also bring to New York the quintessential style of London’s Chelsea,” says Gunewardena. “We hope New Yorkers like it!”
The new opening will be D&D’s third restaurant in New York, joining Gustavino’s under the 59th Street Bridge and the upcoming brasserie concept in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards development.
A growing number of British restaurant operators have crossed the pond to open in New York in the past few years. Both Burger & Lobster and Wagamama have opened in the city since 2015, while Hawskmoor is to launch its first overseas restaurant in the new World Trade Centre at the end of this year.