Last Friday the fashion icon Ralph Lauren opened his Polo Bar Restaurant in New York City, and as you would expect no corner has been cut and no expense spared.
This isn’t however a jump into the unknown, as this is his third such restaurant following on from his first in Chicago in 1999, and second in Paris in 2010.
The 178 seat venue on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 55th Street (located beside the Polo Ralph Lauren flagship store), is a casual, yet refined setting for food and drinks in the heart of the Big Apple.
The vision is that The Polo Bar will capture the imagination and appeal to the midtown demographic of workers and shoppers in NYC. He has already stated that he doesn’t want a “a formal restaurant", although he has stopped short of saying that people are free to just turn up in t-shirts.
The interior is an ode to a classic America. Think equestrian wild west vibes, country club-style leather accents, and luxuriously-crafted interiors.
Meanwhile, the food menu at the Polo Bar is just like the décor; drenched in tradition. Loch Duart wild salmon and BLT salads are among the choices offered, as well as crab cakes, corned beef sandwiches (apparently Mr Lauren’s personnel recommendation) and steaks — produced, when availability allows for it, on Mr. Lauren’s 17,000-acre cattle ranch in Colorado.
There will naturally be burgers too.
Such is Mr. Lauren’s fondness for burgers that he actually credits opening his Paris restaurant due to an incident in the late 2000’s when on a trip to the French capital he failed to find somewhere offering burgers that matched up to the American standard.
The dessert menu is also heavily influenced by Ralph himself, with the coffee ice cream, made from the designer’s own custom coffee blend, served at the brand’s coffee shop which opened within the flagship store in September last year.
To drink, guests can choose from classic cocktails and a diverse selection of wines and other fine spirits.
Naturally the staff are fitted out in Ralph Lauren.
For more information on the RL Restaurants please visit here, and don’t forget to shop Polo Ralph Lauren now at Cruise here.