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Hutong, Midtown East
RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
In New York City, the more convoluted the restaurant category, the more useful it is. Otherwise common themes — ”romantic,” “fine dining,” et al. — are subjective to the point of futility; some classics in the former are actually awash in post-nup negotiation energy, and plenty in the latter are merely playing dress-up using rough white linens and tealights.
Hutong, the Hong Kong import that took over the old Le Cirque space in 2019, tops a tight category I call “fancy-ish restaurants for special occasions or just nicer-than-normal nights out (that you can usually get into).”
The genre’s best must have some combination of a few key features, and Hutong’s got them all: cold, hard, heel-clicking floors (see also: Crown Shy); soaring, idiom-evoking ceilings (Gage & Tollner); the polished appearance of ease and consistently great food (all three).
Hutong’s drama exceeds even its glitzy Art Deco details. There are chandeliers, gleaming metals, and lots of marble. The “Champagne runway” is lined with an abundance of illuminated bottles for a forgivably gaudy Instagram moment. The staff has the confidence to seat parties of two in huge, plush, half-moon banquettes that would elsewhere be rationed for larger parties. And pending availability, an excellent Peking duck is available and on fire (literally).
This is Hutong’s best dish, with or without the tableside flames, served in half or whole orders, sliced thin with crackling skin, the remainder minced to fit into lettuce cups. The celebration-making main — plus other large plates like the sanchen spiced chicken, and little gems like some of the loveliest dumplings in town — put Hutong not in a lonely class by itself, but in very good (and very specific) company. –Amber Sutherland-Namako
→ Hutong (Midtown East) • 731 Lexington Ave (entrance on 58th St btwn Lex and Third) • Sun 1130a-4p and 5p-10p, Mon-Wed 12-4p and 5-10p, Thurs & Fri 12-4p and 5-11p, Sat 1130a-4p and 5p-11p • Reserve • Photo: Tanya Blum.