For celebrity chef Todd English, as much as COVID-19 has been what he called “devastating” to restaurants, the pandemic has given him time to think about what to do next.

Applying everything he’s learned in 30-plus years in the industry, the answer is English Hospitality Group, created this year, which aims to open dozens of restaurants, hotels, nightlife venues and so-called ghost kitchens both in the United States and overseas. A cannabis-infused cuisine product line also is part of the growth recipe.

The plans include a return to New York for English after his namesake food hall at the iconic Plaza Hotel near Central Park closed during the pandemic. But don’t expect food halls to be part of what he has cooking for New York this time around, at least not right now.

“I’m a chef, and that will always be the core of our business,” English said in an interview. But hospitality "has become more than that. People want to have more of an entertainment twist. It’s not just about bringing people in for food anymore." He explained that he wants to bring "hospitality, entertainment, community and art" together as one.

A big manifestation of English’s vision is his plan for the location that formerly housed the J&R music and electronics store in New York’s lower Manhattan at 15 Park Row, a beaux-arts landmark — steps from New York’s City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge — that was the city’s tallest building until 1908.

English intends to open there not just Olives Black, a luxury version of his marquee Olives restaurant chain. The 18,000-square-foot space across three floors that his venture has leased also will include a nightclub and music venue with a cocktail lounge on the top floor. Art and other features are expected to create what English described as “Instagrammable moments” for guests documenting visits with their phones.

“It’s going to incorporate a lot of different things that we feel people want,” English said. “People need to be stimulated more than they were before in the past. That’s what we are betting on.”

But with higher gas prices, food costs and other inflationary pressures, coupled with myriad market uncertainties that could upend consumer spending and investor sentiment, it remains to be seen whether that will disrupt English Hospitality Group’s game plan to open different concepts globally.

“We are always concerned” about financing, English said. “We need to be responsible with our partners. It’s something we feel very confident that we can earn the money and get the return on investment they are looking for.”

English said his existing restaurants are all profitable. For instance, the Olives restaurant in the Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas is seeing an “incredible influx of customers” and numbers that top even the pre-pandemic level, he said.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand for traveling,” he said. “Tourism in New York is going to be back. The city isn’t going anywhere.”

English Hospitality Group is paying a little over $2 million a year for the lower Manhattan space in a 10-year lease deal with renewal options, Keith Burkard, the company’s partner and chief of staff, told CoStar News.

“We are committed,” English said. “I’m a big believer in the bones of the building. ... I have a very good feeling about that neighborhood. I’ve always enjoyed being down there. … It’s a stone’s throw from the World Trade Center and the Financial District. It’s also [near the] amazing neighborhood of Tribeca just south of SoHo. I think it’ll attract a lot of clienteles from those places and even across the river in Brooklyn.”

English Hospitality Group also is working on a craft art-themed restaurant, designed by Adam Tihany, with an international cuisine mix at Hotel 57 located at 130 E. 57th St. by Lexington Avenue, Burkard said. Tihany is known for designing interiors for five-star hotels including the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles and Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy. It’s expected to open late next year, as is the 15 Park Row project.

English Hospitality Group is “actively working on additional locations” in New York, including more in midtown Manhattan and possibly some in Dumbo and other neighborhoods of Brooklyn, according to Burkard.

“I love New York,” English said. “My family is from New York. ... This is one of the greatest food cities in the world. … I love being a part of that. It fuels my fire from a creative point.”

His European-inspired food hall that opened in 2010 at the Plaza Hotel was credited with helping to inspire a host of others that have since cropped up across New York. But English isn’t planning one in the city at the moment.

“We are always trying to constantly one-up ourselves and say what’s the next thing,” English said. “There are a lot of food halls in the city now. … The definition of food hall has changed as well, in my opinion. … Food halls [in traditional European markets] are about feeding the workers. Now the food hall is a collaboration of a lot of different concepts. You need to have something that has high traffic volume and has people come in for many different reasons.”

While New York may not see a new English food hall anytime soon, he does have one food hall development in the works about an hour’s drive from the city in Stamford, Connecticut. His hospitality venture plans to open in early 2024 an 80,000-square-foot, two-story food hall and global art exhibition at the Stamford Town Center Mall.

“We want to create interactive visual ideas,” where art installations and video presentations are changing all the time, English said. “It'll be changing seasonally, by country and by cuisine. You have these things and these reasons to come in. We want to use technology and visual simulation to create an experience to not just bring you there because you want to have an incredible meal, but you want to be wowed by what’s on around you.”

The Stamford food hall is exploring different types of technology including holograms as well as robots that can be used to cook some dishes and others that can deliver food to local offices, English said.

“This symbolizes a new beginning for the mall,” Alexander Yaraghi, business development manager at Stamford Town Center, said in a statement earlier this year. “We are very deliberately repositioning our property. ... We are becoming a regional destination for unique culinary experiences, world-renown artists, and dynamic cultural events.”

While these projects have yet to open, the English Hotel, the chef’s first boutique hotel, debuted earlier this year in Las Vegas. Located in the Arts District, the property features the Pepper Club sushi fusion restaurant, named after English’s dog, as well as a large collection of work by local artists such as Adam Rellah, known as Pretty Done, who has designed pieces and murals that encapsulate the community, which Burkard said is one of English Hospitality Group’s pillars.

The hotel is not the only English concept that’s opened in Sin City during the pandemic. The Beast by Todd English debuted at Vegas’ Area15 entertainment venue, which calls it a “fresh take on a food hall.” Olives also opened at billionaire investor Richard Branson’s new Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

English Hospitality Group plans to open more English Hotels in cities including New York, Miami and Los Angeles in the next seven to 10 years, Burkard said. Part of the growth strategy involves buying existing hotels, real estate for restaurants and other properties. Burkard said English Hospitality Group has identified locations that he said will “thrive” in all market conditions.

“Our rollout plan is very asset heavy,” he said, adding English Hospitality Group has deals with strategic partners. He declined to elaborate.

“We want to build all the components in the business ... and eventually go public,” Burkard said. “It’s our goal down the road.”

The company has delved into ghost kitchens to help expand the reach of English’s food concepts. For example, it’s partnered with Reef Technology, which helps restaurants operate delivery-only preparation spaces, to introduce Pound Burger in Dubai with additional locations to follow.

With the addition of appealing office amenities increasingly seen as key to motivating employees back to the workplace during the pandemic, Burkard, declining to specify, said English Hospitality Group is very close to signing a deal to handle food offerings for a “very well-known asset management firm” in Miami.

English Hospitality Group also is venturing into golf course design and development. English and Burkard both are golfers and met several years ago at a golf outing, which eventually led to their friendship and the forming of their new company. Burkard has an investment banking background at New York-based Park Avenue Finance.

Beyond their real estate plans, the pair have also introduced cannabis-infused macaroni and cheese, with olive oil, spices, sauces and salad dressing coming next. English said he started working on the LastLeaf line of products after he made cannabis-infused food for his sister who was undergoing cancer treatment and having trouble taking painkillers after chemotherapy.

“That seemed to make her feel better,” he said.