The Yacht Club
Restaurant · Chelsea ·
Rooftop seafood & cocktails with stunning waterfront views
Rooftop seafood & cocktails with stunning waterfront views
"If you can’t get to your house on the East End (or if you’re like me and you don’t have a house there), the Yacht Club is a must. The place is transporting – a sprawling 20,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor destination with sweeping views of the Hudson. Out on the Lido Deck (paging Julie McCoy), you can sip cold Champagne, white Negronis, juleps, and large-format tequila punches with juicy grapefruits and limes. Coming with a crowd? Reserve a breezy cabana, furnished with sofas, loungers, and your own Yeti cooler stocked with booze. For a break from the sun, head to the dining room that feels like a luxury schooner. Dinner could include oysters (such as its own Sailor Babys), steak tartare, and deviled eggs, or more ample plates like skate wing meuniere, tomahawk steak frites, and lobster rolls. It’s the kind of place I dream of being shipwrecked." - Andrea Strong
"Sailor’s Choice, last month’s opening from the Grand Banks team, is a bar centered around a boat (which is on land). From the same group, Yacht Club is more ambitious: it’s a 10th floor, 20,000 square foot, indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant in the Starrett-Lehigh building in Chelsea. They have a raw bar, and a cocktail bar with drinks named after famous yachts." - will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah, bryan kim
"From the Grand Banks team, Yacht Club is a 10th floor, 20,000 square foot, indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant in the Starrett-Lehigh building in Chelsea. They have a raw bar, and a cocktail bar with drinks named after famous yachts. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists." - Will Hartman
"Opening Thursday, July 17 on the rooftop of the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea (212 12th Avenue, between 26th and 27th streets), this 20,000-square-foot nautical-themed seafood restaurant from Alex and Miles Pincus, says a spokesperson, "literally spans the width of a city block." It serves lunch and dinner with indoor seating for 85 and a sprawling patio. The Pincus brothers have hired Andres Grundy (formerly L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Raoul’s) as chef; starters include homemade oyster crackers, three types of butter with a baguette and radishes, oysters, smoked trout roe on souffléed potatoes, shrimp cocktail, caviar, and a seafood tower priced at $250. The menu is laden with snacks like deviled eggs, sardines, sliders, kebabs, and tartare (first courses range $8 to $95), there’s a trio of salads, several ways to order lobster, and mains such as tilefish, skate wing, and steak Diane (mains $38 to $48). A separate outdoor menu for the terrace and cabanas focuses on snacks and share plates — from small pizzas to kebabs and sliders — and drinks skew toward wine and bubbles plus straightforward cocktails like spritzes and palomas." - Melissa McCart
"Alex and Miles Pincus — the operators behind seasonal shoreside restaurants such as Tribeca’s Grand Banks on the Sherman Zwicker boat; Island Oyster off Governor’s Island; West Village waterfront Drift In; downtown landlocked Holywater; Brooklyn’s High Tide; and Chelsea’s Fairweather — have unveiled an upcoming new bar slated to open in the spring at 212 12th Avenue in the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea. Alex Pincus confirmed the location; details to follow." - Melissa McCart