Aqua, A Swanky 400-Seat London Import Is Now Open in Flatiron

“Aqua opens today in Flatiron, a new 24,000 square-foot restaurant from the family of restaurants behind Chinese blockbuster, Hutong. This sprawling stunner, much like its London sibling that debuted over a decade ago, ushers in the most trendy pairing of the season, offering both Italian cuisine and Japanese fare. 

Debuting at 902 Broadway between East 20th and 21st streets, Aqua seats a whopping 432 diners. Yet it isn’t serving the kind of fusion we’re seeing all over the city. Instead, the restaurant offers two different menus. The first, which they’re calling Aqua Rome, has dishes like arancini, salumi, small pizzas, pasta, and larger items like a spicy chicken with chanterelles prepared in a designated Italian kitchen on the main level. The second is Aqua Kyoto, featuring robata-grilled dishes, rice and noodles, maki, sushi, and sashimi from a separate Japanese kitchen. 

It’s the latest huge restaurant to open in the city, following the same-sized Grand Brasserie housed in what had been the Great Northern Food Hall in Grand Central, with about the same number of seats. 

Founded by David Yeo of Aqua Restaurant Group, Aqua is sibling to high-roller Hutong, the Northern Chinese restaurant with a home base in Hong Kong that opened in 2019 in Midtown in the former home of the storied Le Cirque. 

The space spans two floors, includes three private dining rooms, and a private lounge space that could serve as a future speakeasy. The 22-seat sushi bar — an eventual destination for an omakase menu — is longer than a 60-foot regulation bowling lane, at 77 feet. Toward the center of the space, the bar is all drama, dubbed Aqua Spirit, with its 44-seat bar around a massive hemp-rope sculpture that is the focal point of a room designed by Yeo and designer Robert Angell. It has a killer sound system. The cocktails skew toward Italian or Japanese concoctions.”

Written by Melissa McCart

Photos courtesy of Aqua Restaurant Group, Eater NY