This New Rooftop Bar Boasts Never-Before Seen Views of New York City

This New Rooftop Bar Boasts NeverBefore Seen Views of New York City
Photo: Noah Fecks / Courtesy of Panorama Room

When the appropriately named Panorama Room opens its doors later this month, on the 18th floor of the first and only hotel on Roosevelt Island, it will offer a new way to see New York City. Situated among the low-rise buildings of the new Cornell Tech campus, the much taller, sleek white sustainable building by Scandinavian architects Snøhetta and New York’s Stonehill Taylor affords 360-degree unobstructed views of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, with the lush green tip of Roosevelt Island in the foreground and the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge looming on one side.

Roosevelt Island isn’t typically at the top of many must-do lists for NYC. Even locals hardly ever make it to the island, which is often confused with Randall’s Island or Governor’s Island (both seeming to be more popular). But when Mayor Michael Bloomberg greenlit the Cornell Tech project back in 2011 as a way to stimulate the tech economy in the city, Graduate Hotels won the bid for a hotel alongside the campus. Graduate Roosevelt Island began welcoming guests on June 1, with hospitality company Call Mom (The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt, Genghis Cohen, Winsome, and other spots across the country) at the helm of the restaurants and bars, which include the ground floor eatery Anything at All and the Panorama Room.

Call Mom is run by New York City natives Marc Rose and Med Abrous, but this is their first venue in the city, marking an exciting homecoming for the duo—even as they were skeptical of launching a restaurant on Roosevelt Island and being able to attract guests.

“When we came out to visit for the first time and we stood on this half-built building, we were just captivated by this perspective of New York City that we had never seen before,” says Abrous. “Being born and raised in New York, being very familiar with the city, and having that feeling of something that was unprecedented—it was a moment that we had where we knew we needed to build something really special here.”

Photo: Noah Fecks / Courtesy of Panorama Room

The two worked with Parts and Labor Design to create an elegant, jewel-box restaurant and lounge inspired by Futurism (Italian, Afro, and beyond). “Because we felt we were doing something unprecedented in NYC, we decided to really embrace the future,” says Rose. “The future can sometimes be described as cold, so it was important for us to make the space feel chic, warm, and inviting. We want to be a beacon for the island—you’re able to see this moment atop this building on Roosevelt Island, and it gives a sense of intrigue.”

Design details include a large-scale, monolithic chandelier with translucent tubular acrylic set above an Orobico Red marble bar top; palatial black mosaic tile columns adorned with geometric chrome sconces; vintage-inspired blush velvet lounge sofas; additional seating in deep wine and grey velvet; and touches of chrome and marble everywhere.

Panorama Room’s Espresso MartiniPhoto: Noah Fecks / Courtesy of Panorama Room

Parts and Labor Design custom-made all of the furniture and lighting in the space.

Photo: Steve Freihon / Courtesy of Panorama Room

Parts and Labor Design custom-made all of the furniture and lighting in the space, except for a show-stopping sculptural mirrored DJ booth near the entrance. This was designed by Cédric Hervet, the longtime creative director of Daft Punk, who has a furniture atelier in Normandy with his cousin.

“When we talked to Cédric before COVID about the DJ booth, Daft Punk was still together as a band, and this went on for so long that now they’re no longer a band,” says Rose. “So we kind of feel like this is almost a piece of Daft Punk, and maybe we’ll be lucky enough to get a stop on the reunion tour.”

Rose and Abrous enlisted two friends—Anna Furney, who runs the Venus Over Manhattan gallery in NYC and designer/creative director Darren Romanelli, who is based in L.A.—to curate the restaurant’s art collection. There are pieces including a painting by Spencer Lewis from a series he has been working on for nearly a decade but has rarely shown; Norwegian artist Ida Eklbad’s textural and brightly colored Tannin Stains a Noble River, 2020; and a sculptural piece custom-made for the space by Brian Belott.

The duo partnered with an all-female team to run the kitchen, with Ja’Toria Harper (Michael Mina restaurants) as executive chef, Lindsey Verardo (Benno and Gramercy Tavern) as executive pastry chef, and Estelle Bossy (Union Square Hospitality Group and Del Posto) as beverage director.

Harper was inspired by the space’s surrounding water, and an impressive raw bar with sustainability in mind will be a big part of the Panorama Room experience. “The caviar that we’re going to use is sourced from one place in Italy on a national reserve with sustainable practices, and their eggs are very special,” says Harper. Fresh pastas, a Wagyu steak, and a unique uni panna cotta created by Harper are also on the menu.

Tuna CrudoPhoto: Noah Fecks / Courtesy of Panorama Room

“This is a very celebratory space, and knowing that Ja’Toria was leaning so heavily into seafood, there’s no way there wasn’t going to be a lot of Champagne up there,” says Bossy. “I’m also leaning very much on the biodynamic, organic grower/producer side of things, which is my interpretation of Futurism—that the future needs to return to sustainable methods of production.”

For the cocktail program, Bossy was inspired by the forgottenness of Roosevelt Island: She created a cocktail menu of updated forgotten drinks, like a lychee martini, espresso martini, and Long Island Iced Tea, which are served in specially sourced Italian and Swedish glassware.

Photo: Steve Freihon / Courtesy of Panorama Room

At the end of the night, the hope is for New Yorkers and tourists to realize that Roosevelt Island is actually incredibly accessible (easily reachable by subway, tram, ferry, or car), but when you step off the elevator and into the Panorama Room, there will be a wow factor, from the design to the food and view.

“You quite literally feel elevated,” says Harper. Bossy adds, “You get a new perspective on New York.”