The NFL is "going into the restaurant business for the first time, hiring Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group to run a steakhouse the week before the Super Bowl and putting the venue’s most desirable tables up for purchase at $50,000 each," according to Mason Levinson of BLOOMBERG NEWS. NFL VP/Events Mary Pat Augenthaler said that Forty Ate, which takes its name from the 48th edition of the game, will "serve lunch, dinner and bar snacks from Jan. 27 through game day inside the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel." Augenthaler said, "It’s the first time we’ve done a restaurant, and it’s a pop-up. What we’re trying to do is for anyone, an NFL fan or a non-NFL fan, to come and experience the Super Bowl in a different sort of way and have access to what we think is the best hospitality out there.” The restaurant will be in an "existing lounge and seat about 80 people at a time." Exclusive access to the four-seat tables "will cost $50,000," and include "food and non-alcoholic drinks, four tickets to the Super Bowl and the NFL Tailgate Party, a stadium parking pass and a concierge to manage reservations." Entrees generally will "range from $16-$36 and the last seatings" will be at 10:30pm ET. Forty Ate expects to "begin booking reservations on Jan. 6 and will also hold some seats for walk-ins" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/18).
