The emphasis is on “casual” for casual-luxury Atrio restaurant perched at the top of the Conrad New York Downtown. The restaurant opened in 2012 as a Mediterranean-inspired concept but transitioned to American cuisine that gave the chefs creative freedom and delivered inventive, seasonal options to customers.
Atrio is one of six restaurants featured by HOTELS as an example of restaurants globally interpreting the casual-luxury trend in their own unique way. Last week, we looked at the Apparatus Room in the Detroit Foundation Hotel. Up next week: Bleu Blanc at the Renaissance Hotel Downtown Dubai.
Atrio, Conrad New York Downtown
Chef: Enrico DeOcampo
Cuisine: Inventive American
Signature dish: Citrus salt calamari with Thai red chili, toasted garlic, shaved breakfast radishes, parsley and caper remoulade.
Average check: US$94 (estimate)
Opened: 2012
Local market positioning: Atrio Wine Bar & Restaurant’s seasonal menu is unique, as we are surrounded by several competing restaurants that have static menus. Our concept is positioned as inventive American cuisine that utilizes fresh, seasonal and local ingredients, some of which come from our rooftop. We also boast an open kitchen, which allows for the dining experience to be interactive. Additionally, the restaurant features communal dining tables around our bar, making it an ideal option for groups to enjoy cocktails and bar bites. We have seen this play in our favor for the happy hour crowd, as many of our competitors do not have this type of layout to accommodate.
Biggest operational challenges: The hotel has 463 luxury suites, which can make our guest count and capture rate quite high. To resolve this, we recently added 40 communal seats, which replaced lounge-style seating. This has not only given us the ability to serve more people at a time but has also added more visibility to the restaurant, as you can now see guests seated from the lobby.
What’s been tweaked since opening: The restaurant as a Mediterranean-inspired concept, which gave the chefs a variety of options but it did not speak to our guests’ palates. Since then, we have transitioned to inventive American cuisine, which allows our chefs creative freedom while still serving the type of dishes our guests truly want.
Most successful promotion: We love to participate in the local offerings that NYC & Co and the Downtown Alliance organize. Through these organizations, we have learned that with their marketing engine, the success is immeasurable.
Biggest operational challenges: We streamline menus to ensure our costs are in line, while always looking for the highest-quality products. We look for synergies and want to make sure that our menus make sense as a lunch, dinner or bar offering; we like to add additional offerings for dinner, such as calamari or buratta. A common misconception in the industry is that sourcing food locally is more expensive. Many times, this isn’t the case and we are able to purchase a higher-quality product at the same and often, lower, pricing.
Future plans: Our bar will undergo a renovation slated to be completed this fall. Once the refresh is complete, the new bar will be more visually appealing and have a much larger display of bottles. We have found great success around our bar/lounge concept for happy hour and want to continue elevating this. The restaurant will also be completely transformed, with a change in color tone that will reflect a more modern direction.
Source of inspiration: We like to be on the beat of what our customers want, and we strive to tailor our best-sellers with the season. We look at our most popular dishes, and then weave in seasonal ingredients. For example, our risotto offering on our current menu, we have a summer vegetable risotto that features English peas, zucchini, yellow squash, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and asparagus, and in winters past, our risotto featured mushrooms and fresh black truffles.
Where casual luxury is going: We think the casual luxury trend is moving toward a locally focused and sourced direction. We also feel that the luxury traveler is looking for a great drink served with solid but approachable cuisine in a more casual setting.
Advice for hoteliers: We always like to tie food and beverage into the DNA of the hotel. It is important for the concepts on property to make sense for the guests who frequent the hotel. It is natural for us to weave Atrio into our hotel infrastructure, as it is a three-meal restaurant and where we service our guests. It is also located on our lobby level, serving as an inviting space for not just our hotel guests but also locals who join us. Additionally, we work very closely with our sales, catering, event and banquet teams to ensure our special function attendees are receiving the same culinary love and care as guests in our restaurants.