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Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto is returning to the Big Apple in a big way.
The rock-star culinary tastemaker, who blends Japanese and Western styles, signed a lease for 17,642 square feet at 1255 Broadway, Realty Check has learned.
The address is part of the office building at 1261 Broadway at East 31st Street.
Morimoto couldn’t choose a better location for his comeback. Broadway south of Herald Square has blossomed in recent years with a blizzard of new hotels and restaurants replacing wholesalers that used to dominate the corridor.
The restaurant will be on the ground floor and the basement.
The asking rent at sidewalk level was in the neighborhood of $225 per square foot, sources said.
It was unclear what form the new restaurant will take. In a statement, Morimoto promised only “a concept that will surprise and delight our guests.”
A source said it should open late this year if all goes well.
Morimoto’s eponymous restaurant at Chelsea Market closed in the spring of 2021, a pandemic victim, after 15 years.
He currently has a small handroll bar at the Time Out Market in DUMBO, but the new, 20-year lease seems to augur a return to the full-scale menu and style of his Chelsea Market place.
Morimoto’s new space at 1255 Broadway was previously divided into five stores, most for costume jewelry.
The handsome, 11-story building is undergoing a major renovation and upgrading.
Office tenants include DBI Projects, DBI Construction Consultants and Abrams Media.
The Morimoto deal was handled for the building owners by Max Koeppel, leasing director for landlord Koeppel Rosen. Cushman & Wakefield’s Steven Soutendijk and Amy Zhen negotiated for the tenant, a partnership of Morimoto and Montclair Hospitality Group.
