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New York’s skyline just got its crown jewel back. Saga, the two Michelin-starred fine-dining temple perched on the 63rd floor of 70 Pine Street, reopened yesterday, September 1, after a year marked by heartbreak. The restaurant’s founding visionary, James Kent, passed away in 2024, leaving a void in the city’s culinary landscape. Now, his protégé—and one of New York’s most exciting chefs—Charlie Mitchell is carrying the torch with a menu that’s equal parts homage and evolution.
Mitchell, who made history as the first Black chef in NYC to earn a Michelin star (and a 2024 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: New York), isn’t interested in resting on accolades. His new tasting menu folds Detroit roots and French rigor into dishes that are as brainy as they are comforting. Think cornbread crowned with oscietra gold caviar, a potato-sheathed madai with crème fraîche and scallops luxuriating in consommé alongside sweet potato. There’s even a wink of nostalgia with caviar and brown butter crémaux served with brioche, a highbrow riff on ice cream and cake.
Saga has always been about theater as much as flavor and Mitchell keeps the drama alive. The meal still ends with Moroccan tea and a maamoul cookie, a nod to Kent’s own ritual and a subtle reminder that legacy lingers long after dessert. Seasonal progressions drive the experience, with the late-summer menu pivoting from delicate (shima aji with apple and horseradish) to bold (Australian lamb with cherry, eggplant and spiced jus). Each dish tells a story—some drawn from Mitchell’s upbringing, others from New York’s finest kitchens where he cut his teeth.
And let’s not forget the setting: The former private triplex of Cities Service Company founder Henry Latham Doherty, now transformed into a vertiginous dining room with knockout views over Manhattan. If eating cornbread and caviar while staring down at Wall Street isn’t the definition of “only in New York,” we don’t know what is.
The reopening of Saga is a testament to resilience, mentorship and the continuation of one of the city’s boldest fine-dining experiments. With Mitchell at the helm, Saga is back on top, both literally and figuratively.