Fine dining comes to Grand Central with Agern by Claus Meyer

The second Nordic food wave has already begun to crest over NYC, and tonight Danish chef Claus Meyer will expand from a bakery pop-up to the first of his three upcoming restaurant projects.

First up is the Noma co-founder’s fine dining restaurant, Agern, which opens tonight in Grand Central Terminal. The decor evokes standing on a beach, so it’s appropriate that the two tasting menus, Land & Sea ($145) and Field & Forest ($120), both begin with “ocean broth” before diverging. (There are a la carte options as well, and all prices are inclusive of service.)

In the kitchen is executive chef Gunnar Gíslason — at his previous project, Dill, in Iceland, lava stones and pinecones sometimes end up as serving dishes to emphasize the local bounty, so hopefully some of that creativity will be showcased here, too. The seasonally driven food will be Nordic-inspired but feature ingredients from New York state producers.

For now, the restaurant is open for dinner service every night beginning at 5:30 p.m. Breakfast and lunch are in the works.

Next up will likely by Meyer’s Great Northern Food Hall, the 5,000-square-foot showcase of Nordic dishes (though more casual this time — sandwiches will be big) in Vanderbilt Hall, coming later this spring.