According to a press release, Susur Lee — the Toronto-based chef and Top Chef Masters competitor last seen in New York with the now-closed Shang — will run a restaurant inside China Club New York’s “private luxury member club,” which will be located on the 66th floor of the Freedom Tower.
The project will be operated by TungLok Group, a Singaporean restaurant group that also has spots in Indonesia, China, Japan, and India. The opening for the restaurant is scheduled for 2015, but plans are already in place for the restaurant, which will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Lee’s menu “reintroduces and re-imagines authentic Chinese flavors while capturing the modern spirit and freshness of contemporary Chinese cuisine.” The setting will be “sophisticated,” and the windows will, of course, be of the floor-to-ceiling variety.
As for what China Center actually is, it “will serve as a gateway for Chinese companies and individuals entering the US to connect with American entities seeking new opportunities with China.” So it sounds like this particular project probably won’t be open to the public. Here’s the full text of the press release:
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – China Center New York, LLC is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with Singapore’s TungLok Group to have internationally acclaimed Chef Susur Lee helm its restaurant, scheduled to open in early 2015. The restaurant will be located within China Center New York’s private luxury member club on the 66th floor of the iconic One World Trade Center.
Guests will enjoy an elegant and sophisticated setting with spectacular views of New York City via floor-to-ceiling windows. The restaurant will offer fine dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Chef Lee, together with the creative culinary team of TungLok Group hailing from Singapore, mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, is creating a menu that reintroduces and re-imagines authentic Chinese flavors while capturing the modern spirit and freshness of contemporary Chinese cuisine. Contemporary Chinese cuisine combines the traditional culinary characteristics and traditions from the eight main regions in China and artistically recreates them into one which is global and relevant to the modern day. The result is a unique blend of Chinese flavors with international influences, creating a form of culinary art not only for China but also for the world.
“We are thrilled to partner with TungLok Group and Chef Lee to present the finest in Chinese cuisine in New York’s iconic One World Trade Center,” said Mr. Feng Lun, Chairman of Vantone Holdings Co. Ltd., the parent company of China Center New York. Ms. Gaia Banovich, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for China Center New York, added, “We are excited to offer our members access to this unique and exclusive new addition to New York’s dining scene and look forward to the restaurant’s opening in 2015.”
Executive Chairman of TungLok Group and President of the Restaurant Association of Singapore, Mr. Andrew Tjioe comments, “This is our first foray out of the Asia Pacific and we are very pleased to be in partnership with China Center New York. TungLok pioneered contemporary Chinese cuisine in Singapore in 1997 and its popularity has since swept across many regions. We are excited to now be able to bring our modern interpretation of Chinese cuisine to New York.”
ABOUT CHINA CENTER NEW YORK
Projected to open in early 2015, China Center New York will serve as a gateway for Chinese companies and individuals entering the US to connect with American entities seeking new opportunities with China. Strategically positioned across six floors of the iconic One World Trade Center, China Center New York will be a multifaceted space, comprising a private member club with a restaurant, a tea lounge, a bar, premier event and conference spaces and best-in-class serviced office suites. Members will enjoy fine dining from a world-renowned chef, exclusive events and programming, world-class ambassador services and spectacular views of New York City. For more information, visit www.chinacenter.com.
ABOUT TUNG LOK GROUP
Established in 1984, TungLok Group is Singapore’s leading innovative restaurant group with restaurants in Singapore,Indonesia, China, Japan and India. Its restaurants, renowned as much for their quality and variety as their designer-ambience and distinctive character, offer a variety of cuisines, from traditional Chinese and seafood to vegetarian and trendsetting Modern Chinese. Today, TungLok’s culinary style has vast influences in China and Asia. The Group is proud to have won numerous awards within both local and global food & beverage industries, including the World Gourmet Summit (Asia’s premier annual gourmet event) and the prestigious International Star Diamond Awards from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. TungLok Group has been listed in the Singapore Stock Exchange since March 2001.
ABOUT SUSUR LEE
Born in Hong Kong and trained professionally at the renowned Peninsula Hotel, Susur Lee is a Toronto-based internationally acclaimed chef who has been heralded by Food & Wine as one of the ten greatest chefs of the Millennium and whose restaurants have been featured consistently in International Top 50 lists. In 1987 Susur Lee opened his 12-table restaurant “Lotus” in Toronto, earning immediate critical raves and kudos from Zagat as a “culinary genius.” He currently helms three restaurants, “Lee” and “Bent” in Toronto and “TungLok Heen” in Singapore’s prestigious Hotel Michael. Lee has appeared on several hit television shows, most notably Food Network’s Iron Chef America and East Meets West, as well as Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, where his dish “Fresh Ground Green Curry Chicken” received the highest judging marks in the show’s history. A joint biography /cookbook, Susur Lee: A Culinary Life, was published in 2005. Lee has raised funds for the James Beard Foundation and the Null Foundation and regularly supports many other charities and community projects.
