A $55 million investment in the restaurants of famed French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten will speed the group’s global expansion, according to an announcement Monday from investor The Howard Hughes Corporation
New York City-based Jean-Georges Restaurants currently has more than 40 standalone restaurants and hotel dining concepts, as well as multiple locations under development.
With the investment, HHC takes a minority stake in the business, with the option to acquire an additional ownership stake.
“We see significant runway for Jean-Georges Restaurants to expand its worldwide capital-light restaurant management platform of food and beverage and other hospitality offerings,” David O’Reilly, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corporation, said in a statement. “We look forward to contributing to their growth across HHC’s national portfolio of large-scale, mixed-use communities.”
HHC and Jean-Georges have collaborated on the upcoming opening of the Tin Building in New York City. The historic Lower Manhattan building in the Seaport neighborhood has been preserved and restored as a “culinary marketplace,” HHC said.
“Over the past five years, we have partnered with The Howard Hughes Corporation to create an extraordinary culinary destination at the Seaport in Lower Manhattan, including The Fulton restaurant and the new Tin Building culinary marketplace which will soon open," Vongerichten said in a statement. "Today we have expanded our partnership with HHC. I could not imagine a better company with which to introduce new Jean-Georges concepts and expand our restaurant and hospitality business while ensuring that the unmatched food, service, and experience of a Jean-George restaurant will remain unchanged."
The existing Jean-Georges Restaurants management team will remain in place, the company said.
Vongerichten was born and raised in Alsace, France, and trained under celebrated chef Paul Bocuse in southern France before traveling around Asia in his youth. He is known for infusing his dishes with Asian flavors and focusing on bright, intense flavors from vegetable juices, fruits and herbal vinaigrettes.
He opened his first restaurant, Jean-Georges, in New York City in 1997.
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