Zuma — the jet-setting Japanese restaurant popular with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jay-Z and Beyoncé — is landing in Manhattan.
The London-based chain designed by Noriyoshi Muramatsu’s Studio Gilt will open an outpost early next year at 261 Madison Ave., between 38th and 39th streets, in a sprawling two-story space with double height ceilings.
In September, Side Dish broke the news that New York City would get its first taste of the red-hot restaurant.
Zuma New York is a partnership between Zuma founder and chef Rainer Becker and real-estate moguls Rotem Rosen and Alex Sapir.
“It has always been a personal dream of mine to open in New York,” Becker said.
Becker, along with business partner Arjun Waney, opened Zuma in London in 2002 after spending six years in Tokyo, where he fell in love with the relaxed, izakaya style of Japanese cooking.
By 2007, Zuma had opened in Hong Kong and had become a destination dining spot for the globe-trotting crowd.
That location was followed by Zuma openings in Istanbul, Dubai, Miami and Bangkok.
Zuma’s business strategy is to continue to expand. A Las Vegas outpost will follow the New York location, which is being designed by Studio Gilt. Construction in New York is slated to begin in about two months.
The food is meant to be shared and comes from three kitchens: the main kitchen, the sushi counter and the robata grill.
Signature dishes include thinly sliced seabass with yuzu, truffle oil and salmon roe and spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chili and sweet soy.