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New York

Guide

The selected restaurants have been divided into five categories: Gastronomic, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.

Visitors to New York who wish to dine in that special restaurant should make a reservation well in advance. It is not unreasonable for patrons to call for a table in the trendiest eating places a few months in advance. Sales tax of 8.25% is automatically added to the bill but service charges are only standard for large groups.

The prices quoted below are for an average three-course meal for one person and a bottle of house wine or cheapest equivalent; they include VAT but they do not include tip.

Gastronomic:

AZ: Pan-Asian fusion is not the newest culinary invention and yet Patricia Yeo’s dishes are inspired enough to make foodies sit up and take notice. Diners could start with lapsang souchon-smoked chicken with black mushroom dumplings and then go for the coriander-crusted tuna with black-bean-braised oxtails or steamed tatog and ruby-red shrimp in spicy Thai broth. Much like the food, the restaurant’s glass elevator and retractable roof are not to be missed. For those on a budget (or a diet), the lounge serves lighter fare.

21 West 17th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue)

Tel: (212) 691 8888.

Website: www.aznyc.com

Price: US$57 or US$75 (fixed price). Wine: US$30.

Chanterelle: Nothing can distract one from the exquisite meals at what must be the most unfussy of the city’s top French restaurants. Never mind that the walls have no art and the respectful din of other diners is the only sound to accompany a meal. The lushness of duck consommé with duck and foie gras dumplings, roast squab with black truffles or crisped sweetbreads with Banyuls vinegar and fresh chillies are sensory enough.

2 Harrison Street (at Hudson Street)

Tel: (212) 966 6960. Fax: (212) 966 6143.

E-mail: information@chanterellenyc.com

Website: www.chanterellenyc.com

Price: US$85. Wine: US$40.

Daniel: Named for the renowned chef-owner, Daniel Boloud, this restaurant is consistently ranked as one of the city’s best venues for classical French fare, with a decor that exudes classical opulence yet contemporary flare. Seasonal masterpieces have included Maine sea scallops layered with black truffle in golden puff pastry or Morels with duck and foie gras stuffing, each dish accentuating the ingredients to their best. Jacket and tie are required for gentlemen.

60 East 65th Street (between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue)

Tel: (212) 288 0033. Fax: (212) 396 9014.

E-mail: info@danielnyc.com

Website: www.danielnyc.com

Price: US$85. Wine: US$40.

Gramercy Tavern: Danny Meyer’s contemporary American restaurant never goes out of fashion. A place New Yorkers take out-of-town guests, the restaurant offers two kinds of dining experiences – the airy first-come-first-serve bar serves delicious but uncomplicated meals, while the formal dining room presents extraordinarily skilful fare, such as duck foie gras and roasted cod. Those on an expense account should go all out on the market (fixed-price) menu and get a little taste of nearly everything. Those who cannot get enough of chef Tom Colicchio’s wares should try his spectacular second restaurant, Craft.

42 East 20th Street (between Broadway and Park Avenue)

Tel: (212) 477 0777. Fax: (212) 477 1160.

Price: US$75. Wine: US$24.

Le Cirque 2000: With tongue firmly set in cheek, designer Adam Tihany transformed the stately Villard House into a circus as imagined by Salvador Dalí. The presentation of the food is just as overstated, from the enormous gilt-edged plates for entrées to the Venetian-glass fantasies that hold devilishly delicious desserts. The real reason for one to come here, however, is the food. Diners can taste duck with seared foie gras or veal mignon with potato gnocchi.

455 Madison Avenue (between 50th and 51st Streets)

Tel: (212) 303 7788. Fax: (212) 303 7712.

Website: www.lecirque.com

Price: US$75. Wine: US$25.

Business:

?21’ Club: Cole Porter sang the praises of this place nearly 70 years ago and it is still worthy of song. With a clientele that has included every president since Teddy Roosevelt, this former speakeasy has a history few New York venues can match. Diners enter below a line of lawn jockeys – 21 of them, naturally – to reach the string of intimate dining rooms. The ‘21’ burger is the classic choice but chef Erik Blauberg has updated the menu of classic American fare to include dishes such as oven-roasted veal chops and hickory-fired filet mignon.

21 West 53rd Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue)

Tel: (212) 582 7200. Fax: (212) 974 7562.

E-mail: info@21club.com

Website: www.21club.com

Price: US$50. Wine: US$28.

Gotham Bar & Grill: They work miracles at Gotham Bar & Grill. Tables are as tightly spaced as in any New York restaurant but the various levels and the soaring ceilings hung with lighting fixtures resembling parachutes give the illusion of space. The staff are harried yet always seems to anticipate the diner’s every whim. What is more, chef Alfred Portale, who pioneered the gravity-defying entrées that everyone now emulates, does American food like nobody else. Dishes include the Maine lobster tails or grilled Atlantic salmon.

12 East 12th Street (between Union Square and Fifth Avenue)

Tel: (212) 620 4020. Fax: (212) 627 7810.

E-mail: gothamgm@aol.com

Website: www.gothambarandgrill.com

Price: US$60. Wine: US$25.

Jean George: As they are so often set in basements and backrooms, restaurants in New York rarely get to brag about their view. Jean George lets its location in the Trump Hotel speak for itself. Diners can sit on the terrace facing Central Park or enjoy the same view from the Art-Deco influenced dining room. The decor is subdued, allowing chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s French fare to shine. Few diners will forget dishes like the sliced sea scallops, which sit atop sautéed cauliflower. The wine list is vast and the sommelier is happy to help select a bottle.

1 Central Park West (at 60th Street)

Tel: (212) 299 3900. Fax: (212) 299 3941.

Website: www.jean-georges.com

Price: US$100. Wine: US$27.

Tavern on the Green: This is perhaps the most famous restaurant in New York – with good reason. It is a fantasyland hung with thousands of twinkling lights. Inside is a maze of dining rooms, each more extravagant than the last. Any night of the week there is a movie première party, a reception honouring a local dignitary or a political fundraising event. In terms of food, diners should stick with the old favourites, such as the sirloin steak or the rack of pork.

Central Park West at 67th Street

Tel: (212) 873 3200. Fax: (212) 875 8051.

Website: www.web.tavernonthegreen.com

Price: US$60. Wine: US$20.

Washington Park: Celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman might not be one of regular faces on US TV’s Food Network but that could be about to change. During the 1980s, Waxman helped to popularise the cooking style called ‘California cuisine’ by offering light and fresh ingredients into a meat-and-potatoes culinary country. Washington Park does some of the same and to great success. Seared snapper with lobster broth and sugar snap peas epitomise the sweet-and-light dishes that New York has long missed, prepared here in the open-plan kitchen, in full view of diners. A three-course fixed-price dinner menu changes daily and the wine list covers several grape-growing nooks of the globe. The decor does not attempt to rival the food – where there happens to be wood, it is blonde, while one large abstract artwork stands alone on an otherwise white wall – although the waitrons wear gorgeous Thomas Pink button-down shirts and impeccable blue suites.

24 Fifth Avenue (at Ninth Street)

Tel: (212) 529 4400.

Price: US$45. Wine: US$32.

Trendy:

71 Clinton Fresh Food: The Manhattans here are the tastiest (and strongest) in the city, so guests should sample one as they wait for a table at this instantly popular hangout for Lower East Side hipsters. There is no sign on this tiny shop front – diners must look for the stainless-steel façade. The modern yet miniature space means that visitors dine closely among the chic clientele, most likely along the banqueted wall. There are just a handful of options – like the goat-cheese tart topped with applewood-smoked bacon – so that chef Wylie Dufresne can concentrate on creating something truly magical.

71 Clinton Street (between Rivington and Stanton Streets)

Tel: (212) 614 6960. Fax: (212) 614 9426.

Price: US$35. Wine: US$16.

Fressen: It is easy to pass right by the demure façade of this chic eatery in the Meatpacking District without noticing it. Inside, the industrial decor attracts a chic crowd (yes, that is Brad Pitt at the next table), while the menu draws inspiration from across the globe – diners can start with the grilled baby octopus with tzatziki and move on to the pan-roasted Alaskan white salmon. If there are problems getting a table, it is at least worth elbowing through to the sleek bar.

421 West 13th Street (at Washington Street)

Tel: (212) 645 7775. Fax: (212) 255 2713.

Price: US$40. Wine: US$21.

Nobu: Lovely birch trees line the dim dining room at this long-standing favourite in the TriBeCa neighbourhood. The food is most accurately labelled ‘Japanese-inspired’, which means that chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa lets his imagination run wild. Newcomers should sample the black cod with miso. Diners who cannot get a seat should try the appropriately named Next Door Nobu.

Nobu: 105 Hudson Street (at Franklin Street)

Next Door Nobu: 105 Hudson Street (between Franklin Street and Varick Street)

Tel: (212) 219 0550. Fax: (212) 219 1441.

Website: www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com

Price: US$70. Wine: US$28.

Pastis: This picture-perfect recreation of a slightly faded French bistro is the most democratic place in town – no reservations are accepted, so everyone has to wait. Diners belly up to the bar and wait their turn to sample the steak-frites or the croque monsieur. A better option is to head here early for brunch – the basket of warm breads is well worth the trip.

9 Ninth Avenue (at Little West 12th Street)

Tel: (212) 929 4844. Fax: (212) 929 5676.

E-mail: frontdesk@pastisny.com

Website: www.pastisny.com

Price: US$35. Wine: US$22.

The Red Cat: Moroccan lanterns hanging overhead illuminate this long, narrow restaurant in the newly chic gallery district of Chelsea. There is no pretence here – the warm, welcoming staff guides diners through a menu featuring pan-crisped skate with a marinated cucumber and artichoke salad and char-grilled pork chop with olive purée.

227 Tenth Avenue (between 23rd and 24th Streets)

Tel: (212) 242 1122. Fax: (212) 242 1390.

Website: www.theredcat.com

Price: US$45. Wine: US$24.

Budget:

Grange Hall: The Great Depression might seem like an odd theme for a restaurant but Grange Hall, tucked away on a side street in Greenwich Village, makes it seem inspired. In a dining room with murals celebrating the heartland, guests can sample cranberry-glazed pork chops with poached apples or grilled lamb steak with rosemary and fried Idaho potatoes. Also recommended is a ‘prairie martini’ that can be ordered at the lovely carved-wood bar.

50 Commerce Street (at Barrow Street)

Tel: (212) 924 5246. Fax: (212) 255 2117.

Price: US$30. Wine: US$20.

Mamas Food Shop: American comfort food has been on the rise in Manhattan ever since 11 September. But this East Village spot has been serving it long before New Yorkers insatiably craved the stuff. Diners can choose from helpings of fried chicken, roasted salmon and ‘mac ‘n’ cheese’, which derive from the 1950s TV dinner era. There is also a large array of oh-so-satisfying vegetable sides – broccoli with garlic, roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes, to name but a few. Diners select a combination of three dishes at the counter and then find a table in the flea-market furnished space. A microwave for re-heating the goods and the tattooed staff are the only reminders of the present era. No credit cards.

200 East Third Street (between Avenue A and Avenue B)

Tel: (212) 777 4425.

E-mail: mamafood@hotmail.com

Website: www.mamasfoodshop.com

Price: US$10. Wine: BYO (no corkage fee).

Max: Everyone knows how much a box of pasta costs in the market. And this link in the chain seems respect the intelligence of its patrons by not charging a fortune. The house rigatoni and eggplant topped with mozzarella cheese is a mere US$9. Similarly, the owners could get twice the asking price for the melt-in-the mouth gnocchi. Although the restaurant, which also serves scrumptious salads and fish and meat dishes, now has three outposts, the original East Village space is always packed with hipsters getting more than their money’s worth. Country-style Italian table and chairs are crammed together in the main dining space, with barely room for diners to move between them and a sideboard teeming with pepper grinders and bowls of parmesan cheese. A walk through the kitchen, which bisects the restaurant, takes one to the narrow bar area and another small dining space. No credit cards.

51 Avenue B (between Third and Fourth Streets)

Tel: (212) 539 0111.

Price: US$20. Wine: US$30.

New York Noodle Town: Although other places will charge more, the noisy and fluorescent-lit New York Noodle Town never fails to feed its guests properly. Diners can choose from roasted fowl, salt-baked crab or soups and should be sure to get an order of the city’s best Hong-Kong-style noodles. The shared tables are full at almost any hour – the restaurant closes only briefly in the early morning – sometimes with celebrities.

28½ Bowery (at Bayard Street)

Tel: (212) 349 2690.

Price: US$15. Wine: US$12.

Second Avenue Deli: New York’s Lower East Side was once overflowing with outstanding Jewish delis but this is one of the last remaining. Diners can eat in the Molly Picon Room, filled with memorabilia of the famous Yiddish theatre star. Portions are huge, so guests might want to try half a sandwich (corned beef, naturally) with a bowl of the city’s best matzo ball soup.

156 Second Avenue (at Tenth Avenue)

Tel: (212) 677 0606. Fax: (212) 353 1836.

E-mail: 2ndavedeli@2ndavedeli.com

Website: www.2ndavedeli.com

Price: US$20. Wine: US$16.

Personal Recommendations:

Do Hwa: The West Village is blocks away from the city’s Little Korea and yet the upscale spin on Korean menu favourites does not leave diners feeling like they are missing anything. On the contrary, the comfortable yet semi-industrial space lends a special something to the bibimbop (rice, vegetables and sometimes meat served with kochujang, the ubiquitous tomato paste condiment, with a fried egg) or meat-heavy tabletop grills, served with a platter of spicy kimchi and a dozen other condiments. An East Village sister restaurant, Dok Suni, is always crowded and more casual, much like the neighbourhood itself.

55 Carmine Street (between Bedford Street and Seventh Avenue)

Tel: (212) 414 1224.

Price: US$28. Wine: US$26.

Florent: No longer alone in the trendy Meatpacking District, this late-night bistro refuses to be outshone by its showier neighbours. A savvy West Village crowd packs the tables and diner-style counter stools for French-influenced fare – the steak-frites is great, as are the moules. The sassy message board above the bar and fictitious hand-drawn wall maps are always good for a chuckle.

69 Gansevoort Street (between Greenwich Street and Washington Street)

Tel: (212) 989 5779. Fax: (212) 645 2498.

E-mail: askflorent@restaurantflorent.com

Website: www.restaurantflorent.com

Price: US$30. Wine: US$16.

Gobo: Perhaps the first of its kind, Gobo is nearly an upscale vegetarian restaurant. Perhaps this is because the creators of this Zen-like space have given the kind of attention to tofu, tempeh and vegetables that other restaurants give to meat dishes. And to many a patron’s surprise, the ingredients are not all that different from other Japanese inspired or contemporary meals. Meat-free meals have never looked this good.

401 Sixth Avenue (between Waverly Place and West Eighth Street)

Tel: (212) 255 3242. Fax: (212) 255 0687.

Website: www.goborestaurant.com

Price: US$30. Wine: US$30.

Lupa: Although his upmarket restaurant, Babbo, and the new affordable enoteca, Otto, span the price-range of Italian cuisine, it is Mario Batali’s medium-priced restaurant that is just right. To the rustic dinner tables waiters rush crusty bread and such succulent items as a ricotta-filled eggplant involtini appetiser, linguini with walnut pesto primi, and a veal saltimbocca (with prosciutto and sage leaves) secondi. Diners who do not deny the importance of ordering the incomparable tartufo dessert leave happier than Goldilocks.

170 Thompson Street (between Houston Street and Bleeker Street)

Tel: (212) 982 5089. Fax: (212) 982 5490.

Website: www.luparestaurant.com

Price: US$35. Wine: US$30.

Prune: Despite its old-fashioned name, the creative French fare at this tiny East Village boite competes with some of the city’s best restaurants. In summer, a wall of French doors opens, to allow for semi-sidewalk dining. Although it is small, many mirrors and sufficiently bright lighting help counter Prune’s diminutive size. However, it can be very difficult to get a table here and guests should book reservations early, for a chance to sample the stellar and sometimes eccentric, always decadent fare. Top choices include the grilled sardines appetiser or roast quail stuffed with marrow dressing. Popular entrées, such as the roast suckling pig and a meaty yet juicy capon on a garlic crouton, have guests coming back for more. Simple vegetable sides are also raised to their highest potential under the guidance of Chef Gabrielle Hamilton, whose childhood nickname gives the restaurant its sweet name. Prune has added a weekend brunch, too.

54 East First Street (between First Avenue and Second Avenue)

Tel: (212) 677 6221.

Website: www.prunerestaurant.com

Price: US$40. Wine: US$30.

New York Restaurants