Inside Hue House in Midtown Manhattan, New York City

There’s a new four-story Asian cultural hub quietly shaking up Midtown Manhattan.

Unlike anything else in the city, Hue House lures guests in with authentic traditional eats, but then entices them to stay and engage, with a retro bar, a coffee shop that doubles as a community gathering space, and a Chinese medicine-inspired wellness spa. And perhaps the most intriguing feature of all: a coin-operated self-serve vending machine doling out tea-infused vodkas, the first of its kind in the city. 

“A house is meant to offer you space to eat, drink, celebrate, relax, and most importantly, build community and create conversations,” Hue House CEO Jeff Liu told Travel + Leisure. “This is a house that celebrates Asian culture.”

Located on 41st Street between Madison and Park Avenues, Hue House’s starring attraction is its Asian food. The first floor has the third outpost of the Taiwanese night market food-inspired eatery Gulp, adding to its locations in Long Island City and Jersey City. The grab-and-go concept features traditional comfort food from its trademark beef noodle soup and braised pork dry noodles to bento box-style meals with popcorn chicken, lu rou fan (braised pork rice), and Taiwanese sausage, among others. 

Just behind it is a new train-themed bistro Traveler, which will rotate through different Asian countries’ cuisine and drinks every season. Its debut menu is an ode to Taiwanese pop culture and food, with inventive fusions like arancini made of sticky rice, panna cotta topped with oolong boba, and Liu’s favorite, an oyster omelette frittata. The dishes are served alongside a cocktail menu with drinks named after 10 Taiwanese cities. 

Also part of Traveler is its viral vending machine, modeled after one that Liu saw at a Japanese train station. In addition to its tea-infused liquors, it dispenses a boba tea-inspired liqueur, as well as the famously strong Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor, which is made from sorghum on Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands.

“This is part of our approach to redefining retail space by adding fun elements like the vending machine and using them for better storytelling,” Liu explained. “We want every experience to come with a fun fact or a piece of information.”

The journey continues up the staircase, which starts with the metallic train station vibe and transitions into an inviting second-floor lounge, opening up into the retro vinyl bar, 929, a reimagining of the former Long Island City speakeasy of the same name. Decked out with Cantonese and Mandarin records and memorabilia from the 1980s and beyond (much from the personal collection of Hue House’s chief marketing officer, Haoran Chen), each menu item is printed on a CD in an old-fashioned case.

The lower two levels, both currently open, literally form the foundation of Hue House—a mindful choice by the cofounders. Liu referenced the old Chinese idiom “民以食為天,” which roughly means that food is the most important thing to people. “We believe the most direct way to introduce your culture to others is through food,” he said. 

Next year, Hue House will unveil its upper levels, including the third house, Apt.Hue, a coffee and tea shop with a retail space that supports AAPI brands by day. At night, though, the space will transform and host everything from podcast listening sessions to a chef dinner series. “The interior is inspired by an apartment, so there is a dining room, lounge, kitchen, and bar area to create a home for all,” he said.

Finally, the top floor will be dedicated to the wellness spa Puyu, with treatments like gua sha (a treatment that promotes circulation), singing bowl resonance, and Chinese herbal consultations. “It is a reminder to slow down, focus on yourself, and have an internal conversation after everything else in life, which we think is important when it comes to creating a cultural hub,” he said.

Altogether, the multifaceted space is more than just a sum of its parts. In fact, the four ambitious founders sought to symbolically and literally carve out a home for the Asian American community, right in the middle of New York City. In fact, the name “Hue” is a Romanization of the character “迴,” which means to return—symbolizing a return home. 

Despite 14.5 percent of the New York City population identifying as Asian, its ethnic hubs have always been on the sidelines in places like Long Island City, Fort Lee, Jersey City, Flushing, or Sunset Park, or within certain neighborhoods, like Koreatown and Chinatown. Hue House, which has been open since Nov. 21, hopes to disrupt Midtown’s expectations by putting itself within a few block radius of some of the city’s biggest landmarks. 

“When we were young, our impression of New York was Times Square, Grand Central, and Bryant Park,” Liu said. “Being able to have a four-story building that represents and celebrates our culture makes us feel like we are really taking up space in New York.” 

And more than that, it’s about giving the greater New York community a meaningful and fun way to engage with Asian culture. “We hope this space encourages not only the AAPI community but everyone to celebrate their own culture and hopefully spark new ideas,” he said. “It is all about creating conversations and inspiring creative ideas.”