Inside Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place

Granted, New York is not your average city.  And Hudson Eats, a 30,000 square foot complex on the second floor of Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center) is definitely not your average food court.   What’s that you say? Sprinkles, Black Seed Bagel, Umami Burger all under one roof?

Indeed, the sleek culinary hub has very little in common with your standard shopping mall commissaries, anchored by Sbarro and Panda Express, or dingy outposts of McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts, clustered in rest stations off of the interstate.  And PATH train riders are especially lucky, because Penn Station (heck, even Grand Central Station) simply can’t hold a candle to Hudson’s elevated, in-transit eats.

Floor-to-ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the river, and a variety of seating options are perfectly geared towards the suit-and-tie set working downstairs.  There are expansive communal marble counters, an excellent place to quickly perch with a Black Seed bagel in the morning (topped with housemade cream cheese, herbed tofu or tobiko caviar), hardwood four-tops and leather-backed booths overlooking the marina are ideal for power lunches (where delicate hand rolls from Blue Ribbon Sushi or spare, open-faced sandwiches from Tartinery might just fit the bill), and circular banquettes invite both after-work lounging or late night canoodling, with a bevy of shareable snacks, such as Chips and Guacamole from Dos Toros, fancified Grilled Cheeses from Little Muenster, and seriously sugary cupcakes from Sprinkles.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the awesome bites on offer.  A 14-strong roster of vendors includes barbecue favorite, Mighty Quinn’s, Num Pang and their stacked Cambodian sandwiches, Skinny Pizza, which features vegetable-topped flatbreads.  There’s Umami Burger, proudly peddling flavor bombs on buns, made-to-order salad maestros like Chop’t, and the seasonally-focused Dig Inn.  Oh, and did we mention Le District, a 25,000 square foot French marketplace including a boulangerie, fromagerie, charcuterie, rotisserie, wine bar, absinthe bar, juice bar and indoor-outdoor full service restaurant (whoa!) and six additional sit-down establishments, such as an outpost of Parm, and Jose Garces’ Rosa Blanca (his first New York venture) expected to open by March of next year?

Penn Station and Grand Central should really think about upping their food court game.