Restoration Hardware is so 2015. You must mean RH, which is the new name of the company turned lifestyle brand. And it wants to dominate your home, vacation, and culinary life. In addition to its footprint in NYC, there’s now the RH Guesthouse, which is all about the comfort food — and the caviar.
Overview
New York thrives on exclusivity nowadays, given all the private clubs that sprouted up these past two years. But now there’s a new concept, in a sort of private hotel. Conceived by the artists formerly known as Restoration Hardware, RH Guesthouse landed in the Meatpacking District in late 2022. Right around the corner from the RH showroom and Rooftop restaurant, RH Guesthouse is the lifestyle brand’s first hotel venture. At just nine rooms — three of which are suites — RH creates its own category of exclusive in the current exclusive NYC atmosphere. Of course the team wants everyone to have a peek at the cool new venture, so the Dining Room is open for reservations. Here’s the review.
Atmosphere
Somehow, the Dining Room at RH Guesthouse attracts people who are very much on brand. There’s no riff-raff popping bottles or dancing on tables. Instead, the atmosphere is refined, elegant, and convivial. The attractive crowd gets cozy in both the dining room and the you’re-kidding-yourself-if-you-think-this-is-outdoor-seating patio. The décor, as you would hope, is so elegantly RH, it hurts. Contemporary, clean, and comfortable decor; marble, wood, and lighting in the dining room are #designgoals. RH Guesthouse puts you in a serene spell from the moment you walk through the doors.
Food
Food at the RH Guesthouse Dining Room is best broken down into a separate analysis for brunch and dinner. Tying both meals together is caviar. What I liked about the Dining Room is that it’s not afraid to serve up caviar whether it’s on latkes, avocado, or (my favorite) potato chips. And even better, they don’t price-gouge you, because it can all be had for under $100 despite the very generous portions; anywhere else, the bill would be double.
Of the meals, brunch is the strongest. RH Guesthouse takes regular brunch dishes like pancakes and steak and eggs, and gives it that extra something something. Pancakes are Swedish-style and exactly as described — impossibly thin. Like not quite crêpe thin, but thin enough that you wouldn’t necessarily put it into your calorie counter. The steak and eggs are made with Australian Wagyu, because why not? And my favorite of course are the latkes with caviar. At $65, it’s a bit of a splurge, but it won’t break the bank.
For dinner, RH Guesthouse’s Dining Room presents the signature caviar on avocado or on potato chips. If you have any inclination to caviar, both should hit the table. The chips are impossibly thin, and the avocado rendition is weird enough to be interesting. However, I found that these were the highlights of the somewhat underwhelming dinner menu. The chicken is the specialty here, but it’s hard to compete with the roast-chicken rage around the city. Also, the fish is overall a bit disappointing and the entrees are surprisingly simple and limited. If you’re looking to push boundaries on cuisines, the RH Guesthouse Dining Room may not be for you. But if you want an easy dinner in a beautiful space, this is your spot.
Service
Service is good, albeit uneven at times, and also needs some coordination. It all seems to work rather seamlessly inside the the RH Guesthouse Dining Room, but the outdoor patio is a bit disjointed. On my visit, we had four or five different servers taking care of us who clearly did not check in with each other. Everyone is nice enough though, so it wasn’t offensive. Just something the staff should work out.
Overall: 7.2/10. It’s a solid choice that we can see becoming a standby in the Meatpacking district.
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