Vestry

Should You Book Vestry?

Getting a table at Vestry is easier than you might expect for a Michelin-recognised restaurant in SoHo. Reservations are recommended, but the booking window is forgiving — you are unlikely to need more than a week's notice on most evenings, and the bar offers a genuine walk-in option if the dining room is full. The more pressing question is whether it earns the trip, and the short answer is yes, with a clear profile in mind: this is a dinner restaurant for people who want serious cooking without the formality of a $300+ tasting menu.

Vestry sits inside The Dominick hotel on Spring Street, but it reads as a neighbourhood restaurant rather than a hotel dining room. Wood tables without linens, parquet floors, long hanging mirrors, and a collection of potted plants give the room warmth. There is outdoor seating for fair weather — the side of the building has a vine-covered, older character that contrasts with the hotel's modern exterior. It is a strong setting for a date or a celebration dinner where you want the room to do some work without feeling stiff.

The Food: Australian Instincts, Japanese Precision

Chef Shaun Hergatt's menu is seasonal and short, which is a reliable indicator of kitchen discipline. The cooking draws on his Queensland upbringing and a clear affinity for Japanese technique: expect seafood and vegetables as the main focus, with flavour built through restraint rather than volume. Opinionated About Dining ranked Vestry #371 in North America in 2025 (up from #387 in 2024), and the Michelin Plate recognition confirms consistent execution. This is not a venue coasting on a hotel address.

The caviar service , Hergatt operates his own caviar brand, Caspy, and runs a dedicated Caviar Bar at Resorts World Las Vegas , is a credible anchor for a special occasion. Available in 50g or 125g portions with potato blini, it is the kind of luxury add-on that makes sense here rather than feeling bolted on. Dishes like chu toro with yuzu and watermelon radish, or black cod with edamame and young onions, reflect a kitchen that understands how to build a plate around a single ingredient rather than overwhelming it. Desserts carry a light, playful register: a cheesecake shaped like a wedge of Swiss cheese, arriving with a mouse-shaped apple compote, signals a kitchen that is confident enough to have fun without losing focus.

Lunch vs. Dinner at Vestry

Vestry is a dinner-only restaurant. The kitchen opens at 5 pm Monday through Thursday and Sunday is dark , hours run to 10 pm Sunday through Thursday and 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. There is no lunch service. If you are looking for a daytime New American option in the same price tier, ABC Kitchen serves lunch and covers similar seasonal territory, or Craft offers a comparable Tom Colicchio-era value proposition with broader hours. For Vestry specifically, the optimal booking is an early Friday or Saturday table when the kitchen runs longest and the room has the most energy without the full noise load of a late-night crowd.

Drinks and Wine

The wine list is substantial: 600 selections, 2,500 bottles in inventory, with acknowledged depth in Burgundy, France, and Italy. Wine pricing sits at mid-tier ($$), meaning a reasonable range without the all-$100+ bottle walls you encounter at Per Se or Le Bernardin. Corkage is $75 if you bring your own. Wine Director Aidan Cooper oversees the list. The bar program deserves attention on its own terms: cocktails run from the Silver Bee (gin, chamomile, honey, lemon) to a credible non-alcoholic option with Seedlip Grove, yuzu, and egg white. Sitting at the black marble bar for a full meal is a practical and genuinely good alternative to a table, not a consolation prize.

Practical Details

Vestry is at 246 Spring Street in SoHo, inside The Dominick hotel. Self-parking is available. The cuisine price band is $$ (roughly $40–$65 for two courses before drinks), which makes it notably accessible by the standards of Michelin-recognised fine dining in Manhattan. Dress code is business casual. Gluten-free and vegetarian options are on the menu. Google rating is 4.0 from 353 reviews , solid without being effusive, which tracks for a room that attracts hotel guests alongside destination diners. General Manager Reuben Lirio and Chef/Owner Shaun Hergatt round out the senior team.

For more of New York City's leading dining, see our full New York City restaurants guide. If you are building a full trip around the neighbourhood, our New York City hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest. For seasonal American cooking at a similar price point in other cities, Bayona in New Orleans and Emeril's in New Orleans offer useful comparisons, while Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Providence in Los Angeles, and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg sit at the higher end of the same New American conversation. If you are considering the full range of fine dining ambition, Alinea in Chicago, The French Laundry in Napa, and The Inn at Little Washington represent the tier above.