It’s hard to find places in Manhattan that are hard to find. But Riverpark fits the bill.
Chef Sisha Ortuzar opened this gleaming new restaurant, an addition to Tom Colicchio’s empire, at the end of a private street on the far eastern shore of Kips Bay in October. Taxis and pedestrians are reluctant to pass the wide brick gate at its head. They linger in confusion at the corner of East 29th Street and First Avenue, wondering if they have found the right place.
They have. Riverpark is down there, occupying the gap between New York University Medical Center and the sprawling wards of Bellevue Hospital, tucked away at the far end of the lobby of the Alexandria Center, a new medical building on a dead-end street. ImClone, the cancer treatment company once owned by Sam Waxall and now Eli Lilly, is the neighbor of the top-floor restaurant, as well as a host of other biotech and pharmaceutical organizations.
At night, there is zero pedestrian traffic near the restaurant. Office lights are flashing everywhere, and a light breeze sways the potted plants. The lobby of the building is invariably empty. You could put George Clooney and writer-director Stephen Gaghan on location to shoot the sequel to Syriana.
Riverpark is probably not a place where it’s easy to develop a loyal following, other than the neighborhood residents (there are probably some!) and the crowd of doctors who linger over red burgundy at lunchtime with the people who sell them their medicine.
But it’s still a beautiful restaurant: the leather-filled and pin-lit dining room, with its great views, is entirely in keeping with the design of Mr. Colicchio’s other Manhattan properties, though it’s a bit cooler in appearance and has valet parking in the basement below. It maintains a sense of transience and anonymity, almost like a diner in a city far from your own.
But the menu is exciting, and the service is friendly, professional, and fast. The seats are comfortable and the noise level, even when Led Zeppelin comes through the outer door via hidden speakers above, is low enough to keep the conversation centered on the food.
If you haven’t been to the area since your child had ear surgery or since your aunt had that episode on the bus, Riverpark is a great adventure.
Of course, you can eat well. (Also have a drink: the bar serves an evil taste of Manhattan, with rye muddled single malt lagavulin, smoky flavor.)