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Laurent Tournondel’s long awaited BLT Market opens Thursday in the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South. Note it is dinner only with a 10% discount (indicating preview versus full opening) until September 10. Full press release after the jump.

Laurent Tourondel opens BLT Market at The
Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

New York, NY – August 13, 2007 – Acclaimed chef and
restaurateur Laurent Tourondel opens BLT Market (1430 Avenue of the Americas at
Central Park South, 212-521-6125) in The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park on
Thursday, August 16. BLT Market opens its doors for dinner only, serving a
preview menu at a discount of 10% on food. The restaurant will serve breakfast,
lunch, brunch and dinner at regular menu prices beginning September 10.

BLT Market focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients available
in farmers’ markets, paying particular attention to unusual, wild and locally
grown items. The menu rotates monthly, and blackboard specials are updated
weekly with first-of-the-season produce. Impeccably fresh produce is served
only at its peak; seasonal fish, meat and cheese are sourced from local
producers.

Opening selections will include appetizers such as Big
Eye Tuna with tonnato  sauce, avocado and fresh hearts of palm;
Arugula and Dandelion Salad with artichoke, yellow wax beans and summer
truffle; and Half-Cooked Tomato Soup with fried green tomatillo and
spicy aioli; and main courses like Stuffed Amish Chicken Provencal
with grilled tomato, shoe string potato and jus and Pan-seared Striped
Bass with cranberry bean caponata and fennel confit. The menu also will
include a column listing monthly peak produce.

Designed by Michael Bagley (BLT Steak, BLT Fish and BLT
Prime), BLT Market features a palette in shades of coffee and cream. To enliven
this subtle canvas, Tourondel commissioned artist Marilyn Sommer to create a
series of vibrant paintings depicting fruit and vegetables. Portraits of BLT
Market’s purveyors captured by photographer Quentin Bacon are displayed
throughout the restaurant. Other design accents include fluted walls, reclaimed
wood furniture and wooden cupboards filled with artisanal products.

Dinner served daily, 5:30 pm – 10:30 pm. BEGINNING SEPTEMBER
10: Lunch served Monday – Saturday, 11:30 am – 2:00 pm. Breakfast served daily,
7:00 am – 11:00 am. Brunch served Sunday, 11:30 am – 2:00 pm. For
reservations, please call 212-521-6125. Visit http://www.bltmarket.com

ABOUT LAURENT TOURONDEL
Acclaimed by Food & Wine magazine as a Best New Chef in 1997 and honored with an
array of “Best of…” awards from publications such as Esquire magazine, Travel & Leisure, Saveur and Bon Appétit,
Tourondel has changed the approach of fine dining by creating accessible menus
prepared with the finest ingredients and presented in a casual, comfortable
dining room. By adhering to his belief that ingredients should be stellar, food
simply prepared and service kind and efficient, BLT restaurants have become
household names.

With the passion and skill of a French-trained chef and the
sensibility and style of a metropolitan restaurateur, Laurent Tourondel has
successfully infiltrated the rarified world of New York restaurants and the
national dining landscape, much to the delight of critics and diners alike.

ABOUT BLT RESTAURANT GROUP
BLT Restaurant Group is owned by Jimmy Haber, Laurent Tourondel and Keith Treyball, and
comprised of BLT Steak in New York City (2004), Washington, DC (2006) and San
Juan, Puerto Rico (2006); BLT Fish (2005), BLT Prime (2005), BLT Burger (2006)
and BLT Market (2007) in New York City. Additional locations of BLT Steak are
scheduled to open in Los Angeles, White Plains, Dallas and Miami later this
year.

ABOUT THE RITZ-CARLTON NEW YORK, CENTRAL
PARK
Within walking distance of Fifth Avenue’s finest shops,
boutiques and cultural attractions, the 259-room Mobile Five-Star and AAA Five
Diamond Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park offers traditional luxury; the first
stateside La Prairie at The Ritz-Carlton Spa; a well-equipped fitness center
with personal trainers available; a multi-million dollar art collection;
afternoon high tea; and the wit and charm of famed bartender Norman.

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