Food hall at former Lord & Taylor building to open this month
Credit: Young Skeletons
The food hall at Fifth Avenue’s landmarked Lord & Taylor building will finally open later this month, making the historic Midtown property accessible to the public for the first time since the department store closed in 2019. Shaver Hall, a 35,000-square-foot dining and entertainment destination, will open on the ground floor on June 26, featuring 11 chef-curated eateries, three full-service restaurants, and live entertainment. Amazon purchased the 1914 building in 2020 and converted it into the company’s largest corporate office space in the city, which opened in 2023.
Named after former Lord & Taylor president Dorothy Shaver, who became the first woman to head a multimillion-dollar business in the United States, Shaver Hall is being developed by FB Society, the restaurant incubator and operator behind Nashville’s Assembly Food Hall and Dallas’ Legacy Hall.
The venue aims to offer a modern take on the traditional food hall, featuring a curated lineup of original dining concepts while incorporating elements of the building’s history through an “upscale-yet-approachable” design aesthetic, as 6sqft previously reported.
Leading the dining concepts are three full-service restaurants. Pick & Cheese, founded by Matthew Carver, marks the London-born concept’s first U.S. location. It features a 200-foot cheese conveyor belt and a carousel of plates featuring charcuterie and locally sourced condiments.
Tallow Steakhouse, created by FB Society, reimagines the classic New York dining experience with a prix-fixe menu offering USDA Prime cuts and hand-cut tallow fries. Its bar will specialize in dirty martinis, Manhattans, and old fashioneds.
Mako, helmed by Chef BK Park, will be the first offshoot of the chef’s Michelin-starred eatery in Chicago’s West Loop. Presenting an intimate 12-seat dining experience, the restaurant will offer a rotating seasonal menu with highlights including buttery toro, braised abalone, and seafood consommé.
Shaver Hall’s 11 casual eateries include F&F Pizzeria, serving Brooklyn-style pizza; Biddrina Gelato, offering small-batch gelato; the first Midtown location of Tompkins Square Bagels; and Pastasole, serving handmade pasta and marking its third NYC location.
Other offerings include Chick Chick, an Upper West Side mainstay serving Korean-inspired fried chicken; Taqueria Al Pastor, offering Mexico City-style street tacos; Zazu, serving Mediterranean street food; and Tonchinette, an offshoot of Tonchin, bringing Tokyo-style ramen along with menu items developed for Shaver Hall.
Chef BK Park will also open Norihana, a hand roll bar, and the Tallow Butcher Shop will serve tallow fries alongside dry-aged burgers, steak sandwiches, and steak salads.
In addition to food, Shaver Hall will feature a dedicated stage for live entertainment Wednesday through Sunday, hosting a rotating lineup of local musicians, DJs, sports watch parties, and cultural programming.
Rounding out the experience will be a New York-style bodega offering grab-and-go breakfast and lunch options, coffee, snacks, beer and wine, specialty products, and other staples. The venue will also include a self-pour system, allowing guests to explore rotating beers, wines, cocktails, and other beverages.
“Shaver Hall is an experience that brings together Michelin-starred talent, the nostalgia of a Brooklyn slice, and the social energy of a great cocktail bar under one roof,” Jack Gibbons, CEO of FB Society, said.
“Amazon had a vision for this corner of Midtown, and we are partners in their commitment to their employees and neighbors,” he added. “We want Shaver Hall to be a place where everyone feels like it was made for them.”
Amazon bought the building at 424 Fifth Avenue in March 2020 for nearly $1 billion, tapping architecture firm WRNS Studio to reimagine the landmark as a 21st-century workspace called “Hank” that embraces its fashion roots, as 6sqft previously reported.
The building opened in September 2023, delivering more than 60,000 square feet of office space for about 2,000 employees, roughly a fifth of Amazon’s New York-area workforce. It also features a rooftop terrace with views of the Empire State Building, a dog run, and a sunken courtyard.
Shaver Hall will open to the public on June 26 at 3 p.m. and operate daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, though hours for individual eateries may vary.
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