The meatpacking district is home to plenty of great places to dine.  Yesterday the doors opened for a contender hoping to join the ranks. Toy, featuring modern Chinese and Japanese cuisine, is located in the Gansevoort Hotel on 13^th street and 9^th avenue. It replaces Tanuki Tavern and Carte Blanche to create a dining experience with its own heartbeat.

 Daniel and Derek Koch, dining and nightlife gurus, created Toy in conjunction with China Grill Management.  The twins acknowledge that the area offers plenty of Asian dining options but don’t think those options incorporate dining and nightlife the way Toy has proposed.  Complete with a live DJ booth, the restaurant transforms to a nightclub at 1am.

The layout for Toy was designed by Jeffery Beers International and features four different spaces: a two level dining room, a private dining room that overlooks the restaurant, an outdoor dining space, and lastly an indoor/outdoor oyster bar.  Relaxed lighting and visual treats help to create a chic, sexy atmosphere.

Executive Chef Doron Wong’s menu helps to add vivaciousness to your dining experience.  The menu includes Lobster Dumplings, Shrimp ‘toast’ Cigars with Shitake Mushrooms and Coral and a Long Bone Short Rib with Szechuan Black Pepper Sauce and Wokked Chinese Long Beans.  The Sushi Bar creates even more options in shellfish, rolls and sashimi.

Dining at Toy is available from 6pm until 12am, club hours are from 12am to 4am.