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Gloria is a warm and elegant pescatarian restaurant located in Hell’s Kitchen. The partners – Sommelier Phil Johnson and Managing Partner Leland Meibeyer – have culled from their collective experiences and histories to create a unique New York City restaurant with a singular point of view that is accessible, delicious, convivial, and fun.
The menu at Gloria is fish and vegetable forward. The tightly edited menu favors wild, local and sustainable fish from the north Atlantic; the restaurant works closely with trusted purveyors like Greenpoint Fish to source wild, flavorful, and responsible varieties of seafood such as fluke, tilefish, hake, snapper, and black bass. Building close relationships with purveyors and fishermen is paramount to their process and allows them to feature the best options on offer.
Chef Andy Keith is a native Long Islander whose love of the ocean and passion for sustainable seafood led him to take a job as sous chef at Gloria in December. He was more than happy to take over as executive chef in January. Since then he has been proud to showcase the bold flavors and simple presentations he learned at places like Mission Chinese Food, Roberta’s, Estela, and most recently, Ignacio Mattos’s seafood temple Flora Bar, where he was the lead fish cook. He believes in the educational power of a delicious meal.
The beverage program features an exciting selection of natural wines primarily from France that offer excellent value, as well as a selection of wines from new natural California producers. Gloria’s drinks list also consists of rotating locally-brewed beers, as well as creative cocktails, the work of GM & Bar Director Eirikur Hallsson. The restaurant frequently partners with the most exciting winemakers and brewers of the moment for special dinner events, featuring unusual and rare wines and beers.
The restaurant opened in March 2017 with newly renovated interiors created by Method Design and KGM Architectural Lighting. Gloria's 35-seat jewel box dining room is warm and elegant, with an additional eight seats at the bar, including two side-by-side window seats looking out onto West 53rd Street. Bright blue leatherette banquettes and oxidized maple tables line the room, accented by gold flecked burlap wall trim, warm linear lighting, tile and brick. Striking custom geometric lucite light fixtures bring the diner’s eye to the height of the room, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows allow light to flood the space.
Phil Johnson, formerly the GM of Contra Restaurant, has served in various sommelier and management roles throughout his career in New York over the past 14 years. Johnson has worked in esteemed dining rooms such as Aldo Sohm Wine Bar (where he first met and became friends with opening Chef Diego Garcia), Dovetail, and Jean-Georges. Prior to working in New York, Phil attended the Culinary Institute of America and Cornell University.