A first look at Todd English's Food Hall in The Plaza hotel

As foodie hotel experts, we were eagerly awaiting the opening of Todd English's new fancy "food court" in the bottom of The Plaza hotel. So we swung by the opening day on Friday to check it out for ourselves, and snap some photos to share with our fellow food-loving friends.

The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English -- as it's formally known -- is a classy affair with eight different sit-down stations (though you can also call ahead to place an order for pick-up). The focal point of the space is The Ocean Grill & Oyster Bar, the biggest of the stations, where seafood is displayed on the counter and patrons can enjoy raw bar offerings or fresh fish grilled to order. There's also a sushi station, a dumpling station, a wine bar station serving tapas, a charcuterie station, a flatbread pizza station (for which Mr. English is known), and a grill station serving burgers, steak, and chicken. There's a bakery station full of sweets and pastries, and an area selling pre-made sandwiches and salads. 18 more photos after the jump

The space is decorated with tables piled high with baskets of fresh produce or Italian specialty items, all of which are available for purchase. The fresh seafood on display at The Ocean Grill is available for purchase, too, and the grill station will have a butcher who can prepare meat for patrons to take home. There's a market area lined with additional food items and cooking wares -- think mini Williams-Sonoma -- that will be used for cooking demos eventually, and various walls of the Food Hall are stocked with even more culinary goodies like jam, tea, and flavored olive oils.

The Food Hall is shaping up to be a subterranean wonderland for food lovers.