Glass, steel and the New York table: how Rivington Milan evolves

A new outdoor terrace overlooking Porta Nuova marks the latest evolution of Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale’s New York-inspired restaurant

New York cuisine is a cuisine of arrival, not of origin. A gastronomic language built through migration, exchange and constant reinvention — Italian, French, Caribbean and Asian influences layered over generations into one of the world’s most recognizable dining cultures.

At Rivington – Cucina New York, inside Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale, that idea of New York finds its Milanese translation. Located on the fourth floor of the hotel in Via Giovanni Battista Pirelli 20, the restaurant overlooks the evolving skyline of Porta Nuova. Glass towers, railway infrastructure and contemporary architecture compose a landscape that echoes, in its own way, the verticality and restless energy of Manhattan.

The name comes from Rivington Street, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side — a neighborhood historically shaped by cultural contamination. Artists and musicians contributed to defining the identity of an area that remains one of New York’s most layered urban environments.

Rivington expands: a new terrace overlooking Porta Nuova

Since its opening, Rivington has grown well beyond the concept of a hotel restaurant with New York references. The latest addition is an outdoor terrace suspended among Milan’s skyscrapers, overlooking Porta Nuova. The space extends the restaurant into the open air, moving naturally from aperitivo through dinner and into late-evening cocktails. Greenery, natural materials, lounge corners and intimate table arrangements make it an urban refuge at the heart of one of Milan’s most dynamic districts.

The terrace reinforces a quality central to the restaurant: the ability to hold metropolitan energy and a relaxed, social approach to dining in the same room — or, now, the same open sky.

Chef Emiliano Nelaj and the evolution of the menu

The kitchen is led by Chef Emiliano Nelaj, who continues to develop the restaurant’s original vision with a stronger seasonal sensibility and a sharper focus on contemporary ingredients.

New York remains the point of departure — understood as method rather than fixed tradition. A way of combining influences, crossing boundaries and embracing diversity rather than a set of dishes to be reproduced.

Several preparations have become part of the house identity. Oyster Rockefeller, one of the most enduring fixtures of American seafood culture, arrives with spinach and pecorino. The Waldorf Salad maintains its dialogue between American tradition and Italian ingredients through aged blue cheese. Raw seafood selections and tableside steak tartare anchor the menu to classic New York dining ritual.

The current menu introduces new seasonal dishes that reflect the kitchen’s evolving direction. Cocoa Maltagliati pairs fresh cocoa pasta with shrimp bisque and sautéed baby octopus. Dentice Blanc brings grilled snapper together with asparagus cream and beurre acidulé. Black Cod Spring combines grilled black cod with pea and basil velouté.

Ribs & Berry Risotto sets beef ribs against blueberry gel, while Carrot Cake 2.0 reworks one of America’s most familiar desserts into something more precisely contemporary. New York cuisine here serves as a framework through which Italian ingredients, techniques and seasonality can interact — and occasionally surprise.

Surf & Turf, Dover Sole and the Vanderbilt Burger

The main courses remain rooted in the New York chophouse tradition. Surf & Turf holds its place as one of the clearest expressions of that heritage, pairing beef and seafood in the format that defined North American steakhouse culture through the twentieth century.

Two dishes have become signatures of the house: Dover Sole à la Meunière and The Vanderbilt Burger. The first reflects the elegance of international grand-hotel dining; the second pays homage to one of the defining symbols of American food culture. Together, they capture the dual register of Rivington — refined and approachable, international and grounded in the social rituals of eating well.

Sala Blu: a new space for private dining and events

Rivington has recently expanded its hospitality offer with Sala Blu, a dedicated space for private dinners, corporate meetings and special events. Large windows overlook the terrace; a contemporary design palette works in deep blue tones throughout. The room extends the restaurant’s reach beyond traditional dinner service, consolidating its position within Milan’s broader hospitality landscape.

Jeffrey Tascarella and the New York connection

Rivington was originally conceived in collaboration with Jeffrey Tascarella, a New York hospitality executive with a background spanning NoMad, Scarpetta and Make It Nice, alongside consulting partner Chris Lowder.

The ambition was to translate a dining culture rather than replicate a restaurant: one built on hospitality, social interaction, cocktails, seafood, steaks and a cosmopolitan openness to food. That vision remains legible today. Rivington continues to draw from New York’s capacity to absorb different influences and return them as something coherent.

Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale

Located between Milano Centrale and Porta Nuova, Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale offers 141 rooms and suites, Rivington – Cucina New York with its new outdoor terrace and Sala Blu event space, The ORGANICS SkyGarden rooftop on the thirteenth floor, and Intermezzo, the hotel’s lobby bar. The ORGANICS SkyGarden recently introduced a renewed cocktail and food program curated by Bar Manager Dennis Julian Mattos and Chef Emiliano Nelaj.

Rivington – Cucina New York
Via G.B. Pirelli 20, Milan