Union Square Cafe is an American restaurant featuring

New American cuisine New American cuisine, also known as Modern American cuisine or Contemporary American cuisine, is the wave of modernized cooking predominantly served at upscale fine dining restaurants in the United States, originating in the 1980s. New America ...

with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

influences, located at 101 E 19th St (between

Park Avenue South Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to ...

and

Irving Place Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along its , 11 ...

), in the Union Square neighborhood of the

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

borough of New York City, New York. It is owned by the

Union Square Hospitality Group Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the founder and executive chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Background and early career Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Loui ...

History

In October 1985,

Danny Meyer Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the founder and executive chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Background and early career Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Loui ...

opened ''Union Square Cafe'' with chef Ali Barker. In December 2015, The restaurant's lease at 21 E 16th Street ended. In December 2016, ''Union Square Cafe'' reopened at 101 East 19th Street.

Design

The original restaurant was designed by architect

Larry Bogdanow Larry Bogdanow (February 24, 1947 – June 29, 2011) was an American restaurant architect. Early life and education Born in Houston, Texas, Bogdanow graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1970. He moved to New York C ...

. The new location is designed by architect

David Rockwell David Rockwell (born July 21, 1956) is an American architect and designer. He is the founder and president of Rockwell Group, a 250-person cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City with satellite offices in Madrid ...

Awards and accolades

The restaurant has won multiple awards and honors since its inception, including the ranking of "Favorite New York Restaurant" in the ''

Zagat Survey The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, coverin ...

'' in the 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008 editions. Notably, the restaurant did not receive a

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

star during Michelin's 2005 review of New York restaurants, leading to concerns that the guide might be biased towards

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

or restaurants that "emphasize formality and presentation". * 1992, Outstanding Service,

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

* 1997, Outstanding Restaurant, James Beard Foundation * 1997–2001, Zagat Survey #1 Favorite New York Restaurant * 1998–1999, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Three Star Award * 1999, Outstanding Wine Service, James Beard Foundation * 2000, Michael Romano inducted into "Who's Who of Food & Beverage", James Beard Foundation * 2000–2002, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine Three Star Review * 2001, James Beard Foundation Best Chef New York City – Michael Romano * 2003, Zagat Survey #2 Favorite New York Restaurant * 2004, ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine, wine culture and wine ratings. It is the flagship publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes ''Cigar Aficionado'', ''Whisky Advocate'', ''Market Watch' ...

'' Award of Excellence * 2004, Zagat Survey #1 Favorite New York Restaurant * 2005, ''Forbes'' magazine Three Star Review * 2005–2007, Zagat Survey #2 Favorite New York Restaurant * 2006-2010, ''

'' Best of Award of Excellence * 2008, Zagat Survey #1 Favorite New York Restaurant * 2012-2013, ''

'' Best of Award of Excellence

In popular culture

The 2016 novel '' Sweetbitter'' features a protagonist who works as a waitress in a fictionalized version of the restaurant; '' Vanity Fair'' referred to the novel as a "love letter" to Union Square Cafe.

References

External links