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This is an offer that could not be refused.
After more than a decade as one of New York’s most impossible tables to book, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar is leaving the wood-paneled Midtown perch that made it a fixture of the city’s high-society scene, The Post has confirmed.
Related Companies has secured a deal to relocate the see-and-be-seen restaurant into a 53-story office tower it’s building four blocks north at 625 Madison Ave., according to a person familiar with the leasing negotiations. What’s more, Related is sweetening the deal with a rent break that could stretch on for years, according to a separate person familiar with the matter.
The developer has offered Polo Bar at least two years of free rent to make the move, the source said, as part of a broader push that also includes courting the restaurant’s parent company to expand into Palm Beach, all on the heels of Ralph Lauren’s recent Polo Bar opening in London.
This move will take Polo Bar out of its current home just off Fifth Avenue, where it has operated since 2015, and into the ground floor of a brand-new tower expected to be completed in the summer of 2029.
Related declined to comment. Polo Bar did not respond to a request for comment.
Polo Bar’s relocation is viewed internally as one major factor that has helped drive strong leasing demand at the tower.
That demand also includes leases nearing completion with two other companies, General Assembly and software investment firm Veritas, which would be among the first office tenants to commit to the project, the person said. Additionally, there is an undisclosed tenant who is close to finalizing the top two floors of the building, the source added.
“What we’ve seen in New York, the interplay between restaurants and ground-floor retail space acting as an amenity to the office tenants upstairs, has taken on a tremendous importance when landlords are considering either major repositioning of an office building or ground-up new construction, like in the case of 625 Madison,” the source said.
The person familiar with the matter said the new space would give the restaurant significantly more room than its current location, with the small dining space located at basement level, allowing it to accommodate a larger volume of reservations.
Polo Bar has drawn a steady stream of famous faces through its equestrian-lined dining room, from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to the Kardashians. The restaurant has also become a favorite among fashion and entertainment circles.
News of the possible move has already rippled through the exclusive circle of regulars who treat a Polo Bar table as a status symbol more than a meal.
Penn Portman, who recently celebrated a birthday at the restaurant, said she would welcome a change of address if it came with better odds of getting a table.
“If another location helps being able to get reservations easily, I’m extremely down,” Portman, who is in her 30s and resides on the Upper East Side, told The Post.
Landing a table at Polo Bar has become its own small industry of insider knowledge.
Regulars describe a routine in which hopefuls call the restaurant, are told they would check availability and then Google the person before a reservation is confirmed — with availability tightening further as the restaurant’s profile has grown.
Some diners say the best odds come from calling first thing on Tuesday mornings, when same-day cancellations are confirmed and slots can open up.
Employees of Ralph Lauren and Polo brands are also known to have an easier path to a table, according to people familiar with the reservation process, who said openings are sometimes offered informally to those connected to the company.
Molly Friedman, 34, a longtime New Yorker and Polo Bar regular who lives near the restaurant’s current location, said she typically gets her reservations through a family connection rather than calling in cold.
“Because of my uncle I always go with him,” Friedman said of the business strategist and former Estée Lauder executive John Demsey. “Or I would get him to make [a reservation] for me.”
Friedman said she is skeptical the move would preserve what makes the restaurant special in the first place, describing the downstairs space as central to its appeal.
“The point of the downstairs is that it is like a cave … sexy and it brings so many personalities,” Friedman told The Post. “I feel like if they cater to the office type I’m not sure what vibe that’s going to bring. Obviously they will make it stunning and the food will be great. But [it’s] all about the mood.”
English (US)