Who’s behind it: After closing Charlie Palmer Steak NYC in February, chef Charlie Palmer has re-envisioned the steak house as Charlie Palmer Steak IV in a new location in New York City. This is the latest steak house in Palmer’s restaurant collective, which includes Restaurant Award–winning Charlie Palmer Steak locations in Washington, D.C., and Reno, Nev., as well as Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, Calif.
Palmer made his name in 1988 with his original Aureole restaurant, which was located in an Upper East Side townhouse before moving downtown, just off Bryant Park, in 2009. Aureole pivoted to to-go service during the COVID-19 pandemic before closing in 2020 and transitioning into Charlie Palmer Steak NYC in 2021. (Palmer’s celebrated Aureole in Las Vegas closed two years later.) The “IV” in the restaurant’s name is significant in several ways: This is Palmer’s fourth steak house and it’s located on the fourth floor of the Knickerbocker hotel in Times Square (across the street from the former Aureole location). The name also pays tribute to Palmer’s four sons.
When it opened: Charlie Palmer Steak IV opened April 30. It replaces Charlie Palmer at the Knick, the Knickerbocker hotel’s all-day café.
The culinary approach: Palmer and executive chef Adam Raksin seek to modernize the classic steak-house experience, emphasizing seafood and pasta along with traditional cuts of beef. The menu features caviar, Beau Soleil oysters in a fennel-cucumber mignonette, tiger prawn cocktail and yellowfin tuna tartare. There are also immersive tableside experiences, including “The Seaside,” a selection of flash-poached seafood served warm over greens, pickled fruits and citrus, and the “Martini Cart,” which offers a theatrical concoction of cocktails. “The world of dining continues to evolve, and as a chef who has always been driven by such evolution and progression, we have an opportunity to create and deliver an exceptional, intimate, and truly fine dining experience within the legendary Knickerbocker hotel,” Palmer said in a statement.
What’s on the wine list: Wine director Frankie Mace has collected about 500 selections for the new wine list, including Bordeaux, Burgundies, California Cabernet Sauvignons and Italian reds, as well as crisp whites from around the globe. Gems include Jean Grivot Nuits-St.-Georges Les Charmois 2012 and Colgin Cariad Napa Valley 2002, along with splurges like Château Mouton-Rothschild 1982.
The design: Barbara Giesel Design conceived the opulent dining room with a clubby atmosphere highlighted by warm velvets, antiqued mirrors, pebbled leather elements and printed hides. It’s right at home in the Knickerbocker, which was built in 1906 in the Beaux-Arts style.—Tim Fish
Anto Korean Steak House Closes in New York City
After only one year of operation, Heirloom Hospitality Group’s Anto Korean Steak House, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner, closed its doors April 1 in Midtown Manhattan. The fine Korean dining establishment had recently undergone renovations at its East 58th Street location, including the addition of Gori, a chef’s counter that offered private events and kitchen-side tasting menu experiences on the restaurant’s upper level. Heirloom had also opened a second Anto location, Anto 35, on East 35th street in Koreatown, now closed as well.
When Anto opened in April 2023, Heirloom brought on wine professional Joo Lee to oversee the wine list. With his breadth of experience from Grand Award winners such as Eleven Madison Park and Saison, Lee curated a noteworthy wine program before embarking on his own private wine consulting business. He passed the torch to Anto’s head sommelier, Anibal Calcagno, who holds impressive credentials from Best of Award of Excellence–winning New York wine destinations such as Oceans and Indian Accent.
According to Heirloom’s team, most of the Anto wine program—which features more than 750 selections—will be redistributed among the group’s other holdings, including Best of Award of Excellence winner Prime + Proper in Detroit, Mich. The group will also sell some bottles from the cellar. In a statement, the restaurant team extended their gratitude to New York City diners for their “unwavering support and patronage [of Anto] over the past year,” and expressed that they were “excited for what the future holds.”—Olivia Nolan
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