Da Dong Opening Roast Duck Restaurant near Times Square NYC

Dong Zhenxiang is not one to sit still. While he's long been known as one of Beijing's top restaurateurs, thanks to the success of his Da Dong Roast Duck eateries, he's also been on a particularly ambitious run in the past year or so, one that continues today with the announcement of a new venue in New York City's illustrious, Times Square adjacent 3 Bryant Park.

The New York Post reports that this new Da Dong in the Big Apple will not only be the restaurant's first American branch, but also one of the city's largest. Indeed, Dong has purchased at least 13,000 square feet (approximately 1208 square meters) of prime real estate at 3 Bryant Park (aka 1095 Sixth Ave. at 42nd Street) worth about USD 2.3 million per year.

Da Dong's new NYC digs

And while this is the first American iteration of his famed high end roast duck restaurant, it's not Dong's first foray into New York's food and beverage scene. That announcement came last fall, when Dong told NBC that he'd be opening an outlet of his fast food duck burger chain in the Empire State by July 2016, before setting his sights on London, Paris, and Milan. All of these developments came hot on the heels of the first Da Dong Duck burger outlet's November opening in Dawanglu (one that left our then dining editor declaring the sandwiches "aren't half bad").

In March of 2016, Dong Zhenxiang was also elected to the Beijinger's Beijing Dining Hall of Fame. He also won the Best Chef title in our Reader Restaurant Awards this year, while Da Dong snagged the Best Beijing Duck (upscale dining) and Outstanding Chinese Restaurant of the Year trophies.