Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr Open Le Rock in NYC

"A sprawling 4,000-square-foot brasserie inside the International Building at Rockefeller Center, created by longtime collaborators Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr and scheduled to open later this month after a project that began before COVID. The dining room (about 130 seats inside plus roughly 60 sidewalk seats) was revamped from a mahogany-and-crimson former incarnation into a brighter space with plaster walls and terrazzo floors designed for an 'elbow-to-elbow,' democratic atmosphere. The menu splits evenly between seasonally changing plates and brasserie classics, with items like leeks vinaigrette served tableside, escargots presented in egg-shaped vessels sourced from a Paris flea market, moules en brochette, steak haché of dry-aged beef and offal, a vegetable Pithiviers, baguettes with cervelle de canut, a spun take on salade niçoise, and other French-leaning preparations. The kitchen is massive—three islands, a long pass, and multiple subterranean prep and pastry rooms—with Walker Stern overseeing day-to-day cooking, Mariah Neston on pastry, Jorge Riera directing wine, Estelle Bossy handling beverages, and Joel Michel managing operations; the team notes enthusiastic ambition tempered by current staffing challenges as they scale to the room’s size." - Joshua David Stein