At 834 Seventh Avenue, the giant pickle is back. So are the wood-paneled walls, the dessert case by the door and the Wall of Fame, with original photos and frames from the old Carnegie Deli: Mel Brooks, Robin Williams, Taylor Swift, and a young Venus Williams holding her namesake sandwich. The room around those photos belonged to someone else for years. Time Out New York reported that the new Carnegie Deli took over the former Stage Deli, Carnegie's longtime rival in the city's pastrami wars.
That move fits a pattern across Midtown this fall. The openings that drew the most attention all took over rooms that came with a reputation: Stage Deli's, Neary's on East 57th Street, Aureole's inside the Bank of America Tower, and La Grenouille's on East 52nd Street. Each new tenant made a choice about how much of the old room to keep, and you can see that choice in the fixtures before you look at a menu.
Carnegie Brought Its Own Past Into a Rival's Room
Carnegie Deli reopened on Tuesday, September 15, almost ten years after the original closed in 2016. Eater NY places the new flagship a block south of the original, still near Carnegie Hall. Third-generation owner and CEO Sarri Harper runs it.
Everything on view inside comes from Carnegie's own past. Garrett Singer Architecture + Design built a 2,500-square-foot room that seats 110 at closely packed tables, with waiter service and a deli counter in view. NPR's report, carried by KDLG, called the interior a time capsule, with recreated checkerboard floors, hanging salami and the cheesecake case.
The menu works the same way. The classics are back at these prices, per Time Out:
- Pastrami, $29, and corned beef, $28, on rye with Düsseldorf mustard
- The Broadway Danny Rose, both meats together, $37
- The open-faced Reuben, $31
- A footlong frank called The Lunch-Before-Lunch, $21
The new items are smaller in number. Eater lists babka French toast and fried deli pickle chips.
On opening day, amNewYork reported a line out the door, including one customer who had waited outside for hours before the doors opened. Four days later, NPR saw a line of tourists and New Yorkers and said it moved quickly. The deli's flagship page lists hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, no reservations, and takeout. If you live nearby and want a pastrami sandwich without a wait, ordering takeout is the simplest option.
On East 57th Street, the Bar Stayed Put
The Derby Club kept the old room's past instead. It opened at First Avenue in the space Neary's held for 57 years before the Irish pub closed in 2024. In its August review, the New York Post noted that the original cherrywood bar stands where it stood for those 57 years, and that "Neary's mint jelly" is still on the menu. The Post was also clear about what the place is not:
"The new spot from chef/partner Ed Cotton is not Neary's 2.0."
The rest of the room is new. The Post describes a mural of 19th-century Sutton Place and the East River, pleated red banquettes, white tablecloths and a vintage chandelier from the Waldorf-Astoria. Eater NY lists steak Diane, potted chicken liver mousse, fusilli alfredo and a puff-pastry chicken pot pie. At the bar only, roast beef is carved for beef-and-cheddar sandwiches on onion rolls.
Cotton runs the restaurant with partners Chris Coco and Craig Hutson, who are also behind Leonetta's in Murray Hill and Jack & Charlie's in the West Village. According to the Post, the Derby Club soft-opened in July and was not meant to open fully until after Labor Day. The neighborhood took to it so quickly that Cotton opened the doors to everyone right away.
Inside the Bank of America Tower, One Dining Room Became Three
Carnegie brought its own fixtures and the Derby Club kept Neary's bar. At 135 West 42nd Street, the new tenant took a single restaurant space and divided it. One Bryant Park, which Eater describes as an approximately 10,000-square-foot Japanese restaurant, now occupies the former Aureole space with three separate rooms.
| Room | Seats | Who leads it | Status as of November 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| One Bryant Park | 150 | Tadaaki Ishizaki, formerly of Odo, and Shuji Furukawa, formerly of Restaurant Yuu | Open since October 15 |
| Kumiko Room | 14 | Edomae sushi chef Yoshihiko Kousaka, of Jewel Bako and Kosaka | Open since October 15 |
| Kappo Sono | 10 | Chikara Sono, formerly of Kyo Ya | Grand opening November 18 |
The flagship serves à la carte and a tasting menu that applies French technique to Japanese ingredients. The drinks list has more than 500 sake and French wine selections, plus Japanese whisky and cocktails. Grub Street's preview focused on the bread program and the three-room layout.
Kappo Sono is the one still to come. Eater describes it as a relocation, a 10-seat kaiseki counter moving into the building. Kappo Sono's own site gives a grand opening of November 18, 2026, at 135 West 42nd Street, with reservations through Resy. As this post goes out, that is less than two weeks away. At 10 seats, the counter has the fewest seats of anything opened at these addresses this fall.
At La Grenouille's Address, the Same Tenant Started Over
The fourth address shows a different choice again. iDen's Beijing Duck House did not arrive this fall. It opened in the former La Grenouille space at 3 East 52nd Street last year. On September 1, it reopened after a revamp. Here the room stayed with the same restaurant and the menu changed.
Eater NY reports that chef Matt Chen, who ran the kitchen at Le Palais in Taipei, reworked the menu. It now includes a $200 tasting menu and à la carte dishes such as a duck-egg yolk roll, a surf clam and okra salad, and venison with Sichuan-pickled vegetables. The Beijing duck starts at $128. The restaurant also has a Vancouver location that opened six years ago.
The Same Pattern, at Smaller Scale Around Bryant Park
The same reuse shows up in smaller spaces too. On August 8, the sandwich mini-chain Little Biggs, from Little Food Co., the company behind Dos Pasos and City Chik, opened in a converted Bryant Park newsstand at 2 West 42nd Street. It serves egg burritos, a crispy chicken Caesar wrap and vodka chicken Parm. Two blocks south, at 22 West 40th Street, Fonn is a Nordic café from Lauren Huff and chef Baldur Smári Sævarsson. It shares a space with Talea and adds Talea's beer to its later-day menu, so one storefront runs two businesses over the course of a day.
Two other fall arrivals are completely new. The team behind Tribeca's Brandy Library opened Dram Central, a whiskey bar at 14 East 44th Street, on August 7. Piadi by La Piadineria opened its second New York location at 1040 Sixth Avenue on September 23. They show the ordinary way Midtown restaurants open. The four addresses above are notable because each took on a room that people already knew.
A Short Map of What Each Room Kept
- 834 Seventh Avenue. Stage Deli's old room, now holding Carnegie Deli's own pickle, photos and Wall of Fame.
- East 57th Street at First Avenue. Neary's cherrywood bar, in its original spot, with a Waldorf-Astoria chandelier added.
- 135 West 42nd Street. Aureole's footprint, split into three Japanese rooms, the last opening November 18.
- 3 East 52nd Street. La Grenouille's address, with the same tenant and a menu rebuilt by Matt Chen.
- 2 West 42nd Street. A Bryant Park newsstand that now sells sandwiches.
Prewar Midtown apartments raise the same question as a cherrywood bar or a Wall of Fame when they are renovated for sale. If you are deciding which original details to keep, Hilary James can walk you through what tends to hold its value and what buyers expect to see updated. Request a confidential consultation.
