Chef César Ramirez on His Return to New York’s Fine Dining Scene

For fine dining lovers, one of the most anticipated restaurants to open in New York this year has finally touched down. Recently, iconic Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare leader César Ramirez debuted his first solo project on a quiet stretch of Hudson Street in SoHo. César, which was just added to The MICHELIN Guide New York, offers a 12-course, $365 tasting menu that riffs off the style of service and seasonal, seafood-forward plates that earned Ramirez Three MICHELIN Stars for nine years in a covert space within a grocery store—first in Downtown Brooklyn, then in Midtown.

Credited as one of the first chefs in the country to introduce a style of dining in which a brigade of chefs cook for just a few diners in a counter-style space largely devoted to a kitchen way back in 2009, Ramirez re-tuned the dining playbook, with Japanese, French, Mexican, and Spanish flavors as his prime musical keys.

Congratulations on the opening! What has it taken to get here?

It has been a lot of hard work and planning. It took one week to find the space—seems it was meant to be—but from start to finish, it took about a year. The space was gutted when we got it, so we did not have to remove much of the old equipment. It really was a blank canvas.

What was it about this space that spoke to you?

The neighborhood, how wide it was, the high ceilings, and the history of the space having been a printing house.

What was it like to spearhead your own concept for the first time?

I have done it for other people, so I had a clear vision of what I wanted. It has been my dream to have a place of my own. Working on the restaurant has been very fulfilling.

Tell us about your design aesthetic.

Three words: simple, clean, and timeless.

Vanguard completed the 4,500 SF restaurant fit-out for Michelin-star chef, Cesar Ramirez, in SoHo this past summer. The dining room features white oak walls, applied molding, wood floors, track lighting fixtures, and a bar counter of Carrera Bianco marble overlooking views of the open kitchen. Scope also includes new MEPS/ FA, integrated AV, interior/exterior signage, installation of client’s kitchen and FFE, architectural metal and glass storefront, refurbished restrooms, and custom millwork at entry lobby.

Photo courtesy of Michelin Guide.