Lincoln
Lincoln Center Plaza
142 West 65th Street
Tel: 212-359-6500
Designer: Diller Scofidio + Renfro

With all of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s changes to Lincoln Center, it might be easy to overlook Lincoln, the Patina Restaurant Group’s newest addition to the nearly 50-year-old complex. Lincoln is tucked underneath 7,203 square feet of turf and Kentucky Bluegrass. Located along 65th Street in the place of the former Milstein Plaza, this Italian offering from chef Jonathan Benno is conspicuously designed around its roof, which Kevin Rice, an associate at DS+R, describes as a “really simple, really pure form.” The parabolic lawn extends beyond the glass restaurant walls, as does the custom-stained mahogany ceiling, integrating diners with life on the plaza and the street below, and establishing an open atmosphere. Diners can enter Lincoln at either plaza or street level, from which they ascend a grand Corian-and-glass staircase before being seated in one of four public dining areas, all situated along the glass periphery. In keeping with this exposed and almost performative atmosphere, the kitchen sits in the center of the plaza level for all to see. Lincoln encompasses approximately 11,000 square feet, much of which is covered in photo-printed travertine carpet—a nod to Lincoln Center’s iconic facades—and seats a total of 194 people, including a bar and small private dining area where several custom-fabricated banquettes are almost entirely enclosed.