Japanese omakase restaurant to open near Grand Central

We have nothing against banks, but we prefer restaurants to retail branches. An ambitious Japanese dining concept, SORA, just signed a lease for 14,430 square feet at Empire State Realty Trust’s One Grand Central Place between Park and Madison avenues.

It will replace a former First Republic Bank location on the tower’s East 42nd Street side.

SORA, backed by Japan’s publicly-traded Round 1 Corporation, will have six individual rooms, five of them curated by a highly regarded Japanese chef and one with what’s described as a “direct-from-Tokyo cocktail experience.”

SORA signed a lease for 14,430 square feet at Empire State Realty Trust’s One Grand Central Place. Katz

One Grand Central Place stands opposite SL Green’s game-changing One Vanderbilt, home to Daniel Boulud’s Le Pavillon. Fred Posniak, who represented ESRT in-house with Alec Stone and with Cushman & Wakefield’s Kenji Ota and Neil Seth, said, “SORA’s innovative omakase dining concept builds on the Grand Central District’s new top food destinations.”

Sora will replace a former First Republic Bank location on the tower’s East 42nd Street side. Google Maps

CBRE’s Robert Bonicoro and Betsy DaSilva repped the tenant.

One Grand Central Place, aka 60 E. 42nd Street, has 1.24 million square feet.

Its offices are 93.3% leased to tenants including iCapital Network, Inc., GLG, and Sol de Janeiro.