A new dining initiative at Loews Regency New York Hotel proves that sustainability and luxury are not opposites—they elevate each other.

There is something quietly radical happening at the corner of Park Avenue and 61st Street. Tucked inside the iconic Loews Regency New York Hotel, where Manhattan’s Upper East Side elegance meets thoughtful hospitality, a new kind of dining experience has begun to take root—literally.

Freshly Rooted by Loews Hotels is not just another seasonal menu refresh. It is a definitive move toward deeper sustainability, local storytelling through food, and an elevated guest experience that starts on the plate and ripples outward. Into the community, onto nearby farms, and through the lens of conscious travel. With this initiative, The Regency Bar & Grill is not only delivering flavorful, hand-crafted dishes. It is making a statement about how a hotel restaurant can be an agent of change without sacrificing style, taste, or sophistication.

Where Farm Meets Fifth Avenue

At first glance, it may seem unexpected. This is a celebration of upstate kale and ricotta salata in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. But that is the charm. Loews Regency New York Hotel has always straddled tradition and reinvention. Its lobby has played host to power breakfasts and landmark conversations for decades, while its restaurant offerings have quietly evolved to reflect the essence of modern hospitality. With Freshly Rooted, the hotel builds on that legacy in a distinctly New York way: bringing regional farms into the conversation and onto the table.

The program’s focus? A curated rotation of vibrant salads, each composed of peak-season produce and ingredients sourced from trusted regional purveyors. Think tender radicchio from Norwich Meadow Farm, leafy greens grown hydroponically by Gotham Greens right in the city, and creamy ricotta salata from Murray’s Cheese—a beloved NYC institution. These are not just ingredients; they are characters in a story of mindful sourcing and hyper-local dining.

The Grain Salad: A Signature Start

To kick off this new initiative, The Regency Bar & Grill is serving what might be the city’s most thoughtfully sourced salad. The Grain Salad brings together hearty farro, juicy grapes, and earthy kale with the peppery bite of radicchio, sweet acidity from pickled red onions, a satisfying crunch from pistachios, and a generous dusting of salty ricotta salata. On paper, it reads like a well-balanced dish. On the plate, it becomes something more—a vibrant composition that honors the origin of every element.

The salad’s kale and radicchio come from Norwich Meadow Farm and Gotham Greens, while the cheese is supplied by Murray’s—each with its own reputation for quality and transparency. Guests can trace the origin of each ingredient, thanks to a menu that names and celebrates every farm and purveyor. It is a quiet education, one that happens bite by bite, connecting diners with the land and labor behind their meal.

Why It Matters: A Hotel Dining Revolution

While it is not unusual to see farm-to-table language in independent restaurants across Brooklyn or the Hudson Valley, it is still relatively rare in luxury hotel dining. That is what makes Freshly Rooted notable. Loews Regency New York Hotel is not treating sustainability as a trend—it is embedding it into the DNA of its hospitality philosophy.

The initiative is part of a broader commitment across Loews Hotels to rethink what modern dining looks like—from casual bites to banquet tables. At the Regency, that means every layer of the guest experience, including meetings and large-scale events, will eventually reflect this farm-forward approach. There’s an intentionality here, a refusal to separate luxury from responsibility.

More than just a salad or a program, Freshly Rooted signals a shift. Toward food that is both indulgent and principled, transparency without pretension, and luxury that nourishes more than the palate. It is a redefinition of what it means to dine well while doing good.

Supporting New York, One Forkful at a Time

Part of what makes this initiative so meaningful is its support for the local food economy. By sourcing directly from regional purveyors, the hotel reduces its carbon footprint and keeps dollars circulating within New York State’s agricultural communities.

Norwich Meadow Farm, for example, is known for its organic practices and dedication to soil health. Meanwhile, Gotham Greens produces leafy greens year-round in rooftop greenhouses powered by renewable energy. Murray’s Cheese has built its reputation over generations, championing American-made cheeses with a commitment to craftsmanship.

These partnerships are not performative—they are purposeful. Every forkful of salad supports a farmer, a cheesemaker, and a producer who shares in the hotel’s vision of sustainable luxury. And in a city that thrives on connection, that kind of relationship matters.

The Future of Fresh

Though it begins with a single dish, the vision for Freshly Rooted is expansive. Plans are underway to incorporate these sourcing standards across banquet offerings, corporate events, and special occasion menus. Imagine a wedding cocktail hour where the vegetables are harvested from within a 150-mile radius. Or a corporate luncheon that highlights seasonal grains and produce curated to reflect the terroir of New York.

This is not about checking boxes or greenwashing menus. Loews is taking the long view—embedding sustainability into the infrastructure of hospitality, one dish at a time. For guests, that means every bite becomes an invitation: to slow down, taste fully, and understand where their food comes from.

A More Delicious Kind of Sustainability

What is striking about Loews Regency’s approach is how quietly confident it is. There is no fanfare or flashy campaign. Just good food, well-sourced, plated with care. The restaurant has not abandoned luxury in the name of sustainability—it has redefined it.

Gone are the days when sustainability meant compromise. At The Regency Bar & Grill, it means deeper flavor, richer stories, and a dining experience that respects both the land and the guest. It is the kind of elevated everyday luxury that feels right at home in a city that is always evolving, always reaching for what’s next.

Rooted in Purpose, Served with Style

Loews Regency New York Hotel’s Freshly Rooted initiative is not just a seasonal shift. It is a statement. At a time when conscious travel and wellness are shaping how people experience cities, this program meets the moment with grace, intention, and flavor. It invites locals, business travelers, and global visitors to taste New York not just in its iconic bagels and pizza slices. But in its kale leaves, hand-churned cheeses, and its just-picked herbs.

This is the new hospitality: deeply local, wholly thoughtful, and deliciously grounded in place. And it all starts with a salad.

To learn more about Freshly Rooted by Loews Hotels and explore the program’s reach across other Loews properties, visit loewshotels.com/discover-loews/sustainable-savors.

Freshly Rooted at Loews Regency New York

📍 Where: The Regency Bar & Grill, 540 Park Ave, Manhattan
🥗 What: A seasonal salad program featuring New York farms & purveyors
🥣 Current Dish: Grain Salad with kale, radicchio, ricotta salata & more
🔗 More Info: loewshotels.com/sustainable-savors