Market Watch Leader Christian Navarro Opens First NYC Hospitality Concept: Mastercard Midnight by Navarro’s

Former Market Watch Leader of the Year Christian Navarro left upscale retailer and restaurant Wally’s last year after a decades-long run to design high-end culinary experiences with the Oak View Group (OVG), a global sports and entertainment company. Now, he’s set to open his first New York City-based hospitality concept in partnership with Oak View, Mastercard Midnight by Navarro’s.

Based in Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West Plaza, the new concept is located between 31st and 33rd Streets and 9th and 10th Avenues, near the Highline, Moynihan Plaza, Penn Station, and Hudson Yards. It encompasses three venues centered around the Mastercard Midnight Theatre.

First, there’s a street-level wine bar that will serve small bites and 75 wines by-the-glass, designed as a “21st Century version of a 19th Century Parisian wine bar,” Navarro tells SND. Also part of the Mastercard Midnight by Navarro’s concept is a full restaurant and cocktail lounge featuring “French-California, market fresh, seasonal cuisine,” with a rotating menu from chef Ryan Kluver. The final piece is the theater itself, which will also serve upscale food and drink and will open with a residency by Grammy-winning producer, trumpeter, and vocalist Brian Newman. All three venues open this month.

“The reason it really came together for us is because of the theater,” says Navarro. “A wine bar or restaurant I can do a lot of places. But having these three together, just five steps apart, was the real opportunity.”

While Mastercard Midnight by Navarro’s is situated firmly in the luxury hospitality segment, featuring high-end wines by-the-glass like Harlan Estate Cabernet and caviar by Kaviari, Navarro intends to position the concept to have offerings appealing to a wide demographic.

“We’re not huge,” he explains. “The theater here seats 150 total, the restaurant seats 120, the wine bar seats 40. What we’re trying to do is create energy, whether it’s the consumer drinking a $14 glass of wine or a fancy banker that just closed a deal. I want to be appealing to a wide segment, because that’s how you continue developing an audience of people who love food and wine.”

Mastercard Midnight by Navarro’s marks the first standalone project from Navarro and the Oak View Group, but it won’t be the last. “There are others in development across the country,” Navarro says, with more openings expected within the next six to nine months.

Navarro’s partnership with Oak View began last year with the goal of upping the ante on hospitality at top arenas and festivals around the world by focusing on curated menus featuring gourmet cuisine and fine wines and spirits. Oak View oversees operations at venues like UBS Arena in New York, Peak restaurant at The Edge in Hudson Yards via their recent acquisition of London-based Rhubarb Hospitality Collection, as well as the recently opened CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore and Co-op Live in Manchester, UK. It also has upcoming projects in Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario.—Daniel Marsteller

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2025 ESTIMATES AND 2030 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2025 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.