The Seaport Food Lab
The Seaport Food Lab is a chance for the food industry’s most talented chefs to enjoy true creative freedom, delivering an unparalleled series of one-of-a-kind dining experiences to guests in Lower Manhattan. Calling on hungry foodies and inquisitive diners—local to or visiting New York—the recurring pop-up began in 2017. In the years since, a roster of acclaimed and rising culinary stars have been invited to showcase their vision of a perfect meal and experiment with their favorite ingredients in new and unexpected ways.
Concept | Art Direction | Design | Marketing
Season 1
We kicked off the first season of Seaport Food Lab in the Summer of 2018 - featuring an all-star lineup of chefs from around the country. We built out a custom two-floor dining room, staffed an entire concept kitchen and hosted two 50-person seatings a night for six weeks.
Chefs: Alon Shaya | Hugh Acheson | Jessica Koslow | Wylie Dufresne | Paul Kahan | Dale Talde
Season 2
We followed up the successful first season the following Summer of 2019. This time, featuring exclusively female chefs – some from NYC, others from around the world. We redesigned our dining hall, put some more flavor into the promotional marketing, and sold out another six weeks of dinners.
Chefs: Nancy Silverton, Angie Mar, Erika Nakamura, Jocelyn Guest, Rosio Sanchez, Caitlin McMillan, Camille Cosgrove, Ashley Christensen
Season 3
For the the third season we shook it up a bit, and invited Wylie Dufresne and Mark Ladner to host a series of cocktail parties in 2019 - calling it Seaport Food Lab Remixed. Three nights a week, for five weeks, we rotated some of the countries most in-demand mixologists, and served up charcuterie, olive oil tastings, and small passed plates.
Chefs: Aaron Polsky, Ezra Star, Mike Capoferri, Chuck Rivera & Ivy Mix
Season 4
After a prolonged hiatus for COVID-19, the Food Lab returned for three intimate weeks of private dinners in 2022 featuring some local legends, who were eager to get back in the kitchen and cook for some of their biggest fans.
Chefs: Michael White, Josh Capon & Conor Hanlon, Leah Cohen
Season 5
The latest installment of the Seaport Food Lab took advantage of the Tin Building by Jean-George’s fully built out tasting kitchen. This extremely limited, three night, 40 seat tasting menu was hosted by Melissa King, Silvia Barban, and Mei Lin – the three chefs served up a family-style feast inspired by their childhood kitchens with a range of seasonal ingredients and irresistible salty-sweet-creamy-spicy notes plus the dish that won King her spot in the final of Top Chef All Stars, Season 17.
Chefs: Melissa King, Silvia Barban, Mei Lin
Creative – Me & The Howard Hughes Studio
Photos – Arkan Zakharov, Erra Inc, Vikram Valluri
Video – Erra Inc, Vikram Valluri, Matte Films