Food & Drink

Power back on for elite at The Regency

The Regency power breakfast is back — yes? After the luxury hotel’s year-long renovation, moguls and politicians — some, at least — are reclaiming their morning muffins following a long exile to “power” sites unknown.

But the fabled breakfast scene owes as much to nostalgia as to fact: Despite the past presence of names like Ken Langone and Katie Couric, and recent drop-ins by Woody Johnson, Bill Bratton and Bill Rudin, deal-making conclaves of the kind the Regency once owned for itself have scattered to Manhattan points far and wide.

The good news for the dining millions who’ve never dished Fed policy over egg-white omelets is that the Regency now has a fine, if frightfully expensive, modern-American restaurant. (Dinner appetizers run $16 to $24, pasta $24 to $28, and mains, except for a $26 cheeseburger, $36 to $65.)

To a non-morning guy who’s accustomed to eating out late, my pre-dawn (8 a.m.) breakfast was fine as well — except for the coffee, which closely resembles the grim article of 24-hour diners. Do Tisch family members who own the place really drink it every morning?

Plush and pretty, Regency Bar & Grill is a collaboration of Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group and executive chef Dan Silverman, previously the head chef at the Standard Grill in the Standard hotel in the Meatpacking District.

Silverman earned strong reviews (mine among them) at the Standard, where the food was loads better than it had to be. Why did he forsake the fun-filled, sex-in-the-windows inn straddling the High Line for the buttoned-up Regency?

“Hey, it’s not as if I’m moonwalking,” he says with a laugh, adding, “It was just time for something new.”

Clubby and cozy, RB&G takes up the well-proportioned space that was previously Feinstein’s nightclub. Gray and steel-blue booths and chairs pamper big-spending customers’ backs and bottoms; sound-muffling carpeting and tablecloths, their ears. In the evening, chrome fixtures lend a warm glow to prettily composed plates.

Scrambled eggs with potatoes, sausage and toastGabi Porter
Sun through the windows casts an optimistic sheen on breakfast power-schmoozing. But it’s a hotel, after all, and the tycoons share the confines with ordinary couples who look as messy as the beds they left behind.

Scrambled eggs are seductively buttery, muffins crisp. Jams include sugar-free strawberry, a rare and welcome amenity. But the bitter, badly brewed coffee might short-circuit the room’s fitful power surge.

The lunch and dinner menus confidently stroll the globally influenced, modern-American playbook. Silverman seasons first-class raw materials as boldly as if he were still downtown.

Spanish-style octopus and chorizo, a starter, was large enough for a main course. Spiced duck breast with black barley, and lamb loin chop tinted with mint Béarnaise made first-class entrees.

So did dashi-ized wild king salmon and saffron-roasted halibut. Neither timid nor revolutionary, they represent refined contemporary cooking rare in a traditional Manhattan hotel.

Pastry chef Jeff Sytsma’s desserts have all the things you want — chocolate, meringue, house-made gelato. But you’d want them more if they were not “deconstructed” like the all-over-the-plate Meyer lemon tart.

The power breakfast scene might not be what it once was. But the new Regency is ready for prime time. I’d rather a great meal with friends at 8 p.m. than muffins with moguls at 8 a.m., even if they juice up the morning joe.