The Iconic Waldorf Astoria Is Back—Here’s Why You Should Dine There

I sink into a blush-pink chair at Lex Yard, the Waldorf Astoria hotel’s signature restaurant, and look around the dining room. At the bar, guests lean casually against the marble countertop, drinks in hand; above us, a square-patterned ceiling and brass lighting fixtures bring the room’s art deco heritage to life, while green lamps cast a warm glow along the ledges. As I settle in, the first dishes begin to arrive.

The appetisers are one decadent bite after another. First up, the Wagyu beef tartare comes beneath a pile of potato crisps, the salty crunch cutting through the richness of the meat. A seafood platter follows, piled with oysters, jumbo tiger prawns and mini lobster rolls topped with caviar and truffle. But here at the Waldorf, the salad is the star.

The first Waldorf salad — a mix of apples, celery and lettuce tossed with mayonnaise — was created by maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky in 1896 at the Waldorf Hotel’s original location on Fifth Avenue. Today, chef Michael Anthony’s New Waldorf Salad reimagines the original with stone fruits and ricotta salata, swapping the mayonnaise for a lighter lemon vinaigrette. As I take my first bite, it’s clear that the dish has undergone a major transformation, just like the hotel itself.

The Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue reopened in July 2025 after an eight-year renovation, unveiling Lex Yard alongside Japanese restaurant Yoshoku, known for its kaiseki-inspired tasting menu and hidden 10-seat whisky bar. There’s also the iconic cocktail bar Peacock Alley, whose centrepiece is a towering, ornate clock originally commissioned by Queen Victoria for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Across the hotel, the original 1931 splendour has been meticulously restored, bringing one of New York’s grandest addresses into a new era.

Once home to music legends such as Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter, and a go-to stay for US presidents and global monarchs, the Waldorf’s transformation was much anticipated. “People came back to the hotel as soon as it opened to explain why it was so important to their family,” assistant director of marketing Danny Harpaz tells me over dinner. One visitor even returned a fork that had been stolen from the hotel decades earlier and had since become a beloved family heirloom. The next course soon arrives: sweetcorn agnolotti, the small pasta parcels gleaming in a lemon-basil butter sauce alongside bites of lobster and cherry tomatoes. We share the whole Atlantic jumbo bass, cooked simply with sautéed vegetables and grilled lemons on the side.

Then comes dessert — for which the Waldorf goes all out. Unable to decide which of the six desserts to choose, I’m surprised when the Lex Yard team brings out every one on the menu. I work my way through the carrot cake first, its layers held together by rich cream cheese frosting, before trying the strawberry rhubarb sundae, with scoops of strawberry and creme fraiche ice cream.

But it’s the red velvet tart that tops the bill. Like the Waldorf salad, eggs Benedict — and even 24-hour room service — red velvet cake was popularised at the Waldorf in the 1930s and has since become a staple worldwide. This new iteration, served with cream cheese raspberry ice cream and berry coulis, feels like a fitting finale: a piece of New York history, given a fresh lease of life for the Waldorf’s next era.