Karen’s Quirky New York Dines in Style at Philippe Chow
The iconic restaurant group celebrates its 20th anniversary with a new location and a month-long summer restaurant week.
Chelsea /
| 14 Jul 2026 | 05:28
Karen Rempel plays with Philippe Chow’s panda. (
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Philippe Chow’s swanky Downtown location at 355 West 16th Street. (
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Karen Rempel and fashion designer Andrea Thurlow are happy diners. (
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Philippe Chow’s dumpling sampler. (
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Philippe Chow’s signature lychee martini. (
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Philippe Chow’s stick-to-your-ribs. (
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Philippe Chow’s dishes delight every diner. (
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Philippe Chow’s server torches dessert at tableside. (
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Philippe Chow’s beignet dessert after the flames are over—as delicious as it is spectacular. (
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Philippe Chow’s playful pandas adorn every table. (
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Karen Rempel with Philippe Chow panda and passerby. (
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Philippe Chow Downtown’s magical entrance. (
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Philippe Chow Downtown’s serene guardian. (
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Executive Chef Philippe Chow has been serving New York’s hoi polloi Beijing-style Peking duck for 20 years. Suddenly, in July 2025, New York City got a bad case of midnight cravings when Chow’s flagship location at 33 East 60th Street closed to make room for a new tower on Billionaire’s Row.
This can be the kiss of death for a restaurant, with startup costs in New York City ranging from $300,000—for a deli-style storefront with a few tables—up to millions of dollars for New York’s fanciest dining emporiums.
But Chow knew that the fancy people must be fed! With an influx of new investors, Philippe Chow opened an ultraluxe location in March 2026, at 10 East 52nd Street (at Fifth Avenue). The swanky two-level pagoda features 7,000 square feet of white-clothed tables surrounded by animal prints, polished brass, black marble, and velvet, with a lavish bar and several private dining spaces for its high-profile clientele. When I dined there last month, its hallmark exquisite service was on full display and the dishes were exemplary.
Philippe Chow’s Downtown location opened in 2019, in a 5,000-square-foot luxury cavern at 355 West 16th Street, replacing the Japanese restaurant Megu. This Meatpacking location shares a trendy athlete-and-musician clientele with nearby Tao.
People couldn’t get enough, so in June 2023, Chow cast his famous satays beyond New York to Washington. The DC location on Wharf Street allows patrons to enjoy his inimitable cuisine along with sweeping views of the Potomac River.
A year later, in June 2024, Chow expanded globally, opening a restaurant in Kuwait City. Situated on Arabian Gulf Street, at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, the restaurant serves patrons from the Embassies of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and India. We hope their location has been unharmed by the US-Israel-Iran War.
Subsequently, Philippe Chow’s popular restaurant expanded to Nashville, in October 2025. This location in America’s country music capital features a murder mystery dinner series in its private dining rooms. Who dunnit? I’m guessing the butler!
After enjoying an exceptional meal at the new Philippe Chow Fifth Avenue location, I was eager to experience the Downtown venue. My friend Andrea and I clad ourselves in suitable ensembles and rendezvoused there last week.
Philippe Chow’s signature panda greeted us at street-level, adding a playful note before the descent down an entrancing mirrored staircase to the white-table-clothed dragon’s den. The spacious room had just the right amount of swank, with plenty of privacy between tables, golden bamboo, milky dandelion-pod lights, and glorious calla lilies. Another panda guards patrons while they eat.
The service was exceptional, from the friendly hostess greeting to the timely refilling of water and wine glasses. Our server, Daniel, was unfailingly attentive and helpful. With his assistance, we took a tour through many of the food groups on the menu. We started with their extraordinary walnut shrimp, lightly breaded to give a delicate crunch, then veiled with a subtle walnut sauce and topped with candied walnuts. After admiring the neighboring table’s cotton candy Baked Alaska, we followed Daniel’s recommendation to end the meal with an impressive table-torched half-dozen beignets crowned with vanilla ice cream and a Nutella drizzle. Exquisite!
Philippe Chow has mastered the art of transforming simple dishes with complex, complimentary flavors and textures. I could give you dozens more adjectives and nouns, but really, I encourage you to taste for yourself.
In celebration of their recent twentieth anniversary, this summer’s restaurant week at Philippe Chow lasts for a month! From July 20 to August 16, enjoy a three-course tasting menu for $45 or $60. Their signature lychee martini, a swirl of Tito’s vodka, lychee, and coconut cream, is a sweet deal at $15.
Philippe Chow Downtown also offers a mythical Dragon Hour with $10 martinis and $8 wine, as well as bites a dragon would love, ranging from $5 to $8.
Style Notes
To prepare for a Beijing-style feast, I wore a slender black wool crepe dress by designer Andrea T New York, with cheongsam-reminiscent details including a side slit and a semi-Mandarin collar, as well as Andrea’s recognizable asymmetrical features.
Karen Rempel is a New York-based writer, model, and artist. Her Karen’s Quirky New York column illuminates quirky people, places, and style in Manhattan. For an expanded version of the menu sampling, see https://karenqs.nyc.