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Floyd Cardoz Will Head Up Danny Meyer’s North End Grill (Updated)

Floyd Cardoz is headed downtown.
Floyd Cardoz is headed downtown. Photo: Courtesy Tabla

Diner’s Journal has the scoop on Danny Meyer’s forthcoming Battery Park City restaurant: It will be “an informal American-style bar and grill” called North End Grill. Meyer tells FloFab, “I don’t see this as a special-occasion place.” Other news: Floyd Cardoz, who didn’t leave the Union Square Hospitality family when Tabla closed last year (and who will be a contestant on the newest season of Top Chef Masters), will be the chef. DJ also has it that the menu will be “dominated by seafood” and that “a dining counter will face an open kitchen and there will be a bar for drinks, not food.” They’re aiming to open around the end of the year. Okay then!

Update: Here’s the full press release from USHG.

Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group Announces Details of New Restaurant for Battery Park City

North End Grill to Mark Return of Floyd Cardoz


March 8, 2011, New York City – Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group announced plans today for its forthcoming new fine dining restaurant - its first since Maialino - which will open in Battery Park City towards the end of 2011. North End Grill will be a new American eatery and bar featuring refined grill cooking with an emphasis on seafood. The restaurant will be located at the northwest corner of North End Avenue and Murray Street.

In what is sure to be stirring news in the culinary world (as well as for downtown residents and business people), Floyd Cardoz, the much loved and critically-acclaimed founding executive chef/partner of Tabla, will serve as the restaurant’s executive chef/partner. North End Grill will be designed by Bentel & Bentel, the celebrated architecture firm whose work has distinguished several of USHG’s most popular restaurants including Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, The Modern, and Blue Smoke.

“Floyd Cardoz is one of the most gifted chefs with whom I have ever had the privilege to work, and I’m thrilled we’ll be collaborating again. North End Grill will be another shining chapter in Floyd’s career and I can’t wait to see and taste what’s next,” said USHG CEO Danny Meyer.

“I’m so excited to get back in the kitchen,” said Floyd Cardoz. “Tabla played an incredibly important role in my career, and now I’m ready for this next opportunity, a departure from what I’ve been cooking for the past 12 years. At North End Grill, I’ll be exploring the joys of the grill, cooking simply prepared American food with ingredients that should remind you what day of the year it is. I am also thrilled to be able to contribute to the ongoing renaissance of the “Lower West Side,” and truly hope that North End Grill becomes an enduring second home for its downtown community. I’m so looking forward to getting to know and cooking for a new family of regular guests.”

North End Grill will be joined by two restaurant siblings, as new outposts of Blue Smoke and Shake Shack will also anchor the development on North End Avenue in Battery Park City. USHG’s catering and events company, Union Square Events, was selected as the exclusive caterer for the neighboring new Conrad New York hotel, slated to open in late 2011. Bringing the concept of “roof-to-table” to life in Battery Park City, the hotel will feature a bountiful garden on the roof, with a diversity of vegetables and herbs to be featured on North End Grill’s menu.

These new openings provide USHG with the opportunity to participate in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, helping to further position Battery Park City as a compelling destination for area families, neighboring residents, office workers, New Yorkers and tourists. “Anyone who has followed our restaurants over the years knows that we are always energized by the opportunity to blaze a new culinary path in a neighborhood whose residents and businesses are clamoring for more good places to eat and to call home,” said Danny Meyer.

North End Grill Will Be Danny Meyer’s Downtown Restaurant [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

Floyd Cardoz Will Head Up Danny Meyer’s North End Grill (Updated)