Gabriel Kreuther Opens Hudson Yards
Michelin-starred chef Gabriel Kreuther just launched Saverne, a modern brasserie in Manhattan's Hudson Yards featuring live-fire cooking and contemporary French cuisine. The restaurant combines fine dining standards with relaxed brasserie energy, plus a striking design and open kitchen. It's quickly becoming a must-try for NYC culinary explorers.
The restaurant's name, Saverne, is a nod to a historic town in Chef Gabriel Kreuther's native Alsace region of France, located at the base of the Vosges mountains. This heritage is reflected in the brasserie-style menu, which features Alsatian-inspired dishes with both French and German influences. Kreuther aims to blend the rustic, hearty traditions of his upbringing with the refined techniques he is known for. Saverne is Kreuther's first new restaurant in over a decade and represents a more relaxed approach compared to his eponymous two-Michelin-starred restaurant near Bryant Park. While his fine-dining establishment is known for its luxurious, precise tasting menus, Saverne offers an à la carte menu centered around a wood-fired oven and grill. This shift is a deliberate move to create a more approachable, neighborhood gathering spot. The 5,000-square-foot, 145-seat restaurant is located on the ground floor of The Spiral skyscraper, a 66-floor office tower. The design features warm woods and a dramatic green quartzite bar, with the open kitchen's flames and embers visible from the dining area, creating a sense of entertainment and craft. Running the kitchen day-to-day alongside Kreuther is Executive Chef Andy Choi, with Pastry Chef Nicolas Chevrieux handling desserts. The menu showcases dishes like tarte flambées, boudin noir croquettes, and juniper-gin cured venison, with applewood, oak, and cherry logs fueling the grills to impart a distinct smoky flavor. The focus on live-fire cooking taps into a broader culinary trend that emphasizes primal cooking methods to create unique, smoky flavors that can't be replicated by modern equipment. This technique is central to the experience at Saverne, infusing everything from meats and seafood to vegetables with character from the open flame. Saverne joins a vibrant and competitive dining scene within the $20 billion Hudson Yards development, which already boasts restaurants from other world-renowned chefs like José Andrés, David Chang, and Michael Lomonaco. The addition of Kreuther's brasserie further solidifies the neighborhood as a major culinary destination in Manhattan.
