Nathan

I lived on Elizabeth and Spring for years. it's all walking distance...frankly, I basically considered the EV and LES part of the hood too. but let's take Spring...the furtherest east you need to go to encompass the restaurant parts of SoHo is W. Broadway or maybe 6th Ave. that's not far. the eastern part ends at Bowery (unless we want to include the LES). the southern part only needs to go a couple blocks south of Canal to encompass most of Chinatown and the actual important restaurant parts of Tribeca. so no more than about 8 blocks either way. that's a pretty small circumference. much smaller than say the WV or any of the uptown neighborhoods.

budget? number of people?

I'd probably vote for the combo of SoHo/NoLIta/Tribeca due to Chinatown. it adds to much extra oomph. (another inclusion in the discussion would have to be USQ/Flatiron/Curry Hill/Gramercy)

moqueca often includes sweet potatoes

the only legit possibilities are: the EV/LES or SoHo/NoLIta/Tribeca or WV/southern Chelsea or midtown (really only for the four stars, Japanese and expense account places...it's lacking in everything else)... if you could call the vast sprawl of Queens as one neighborhood that might work as well.

goose liver is better.

I'm trying to figure this out as well...since work is preventing me from going somewhere else this year...(South Beach is actually quite tolerable on NYE). I guess it's probably worth checking to see what D&C and PDT are doing...although my friend wants somewhere to dance... as for food, I figure that part is best done at home.... the best NYE in NY I've been to was years ago...involved me, Giorgio DeLuca, his (and another) Tribeca loft...and about 20 women....and scrambled eggs with ossetra caviar at 4 a.m.

I'm going to concur that if you're interested in decor and not in food...that you should go to Spice Market. that's exactly where I take tourists uninterested in food but who want that NY "wow" factor to tell people about.

Noodle Bar for lunch. kimchee stew is nice for this weather but the non-noodle items are the way to go.

anything more than a generous dash of violette makes the drink too sweet. based on Toby's recipe above, maybe he's just replacing the .25 simple with .25 violette?

another thing, you said that you want a "defining NY experience"....well, all of the restaurants you've listed are tourist traps, more or less. (Lombardi's and Carnegie Deli do have their merits...but they still primarily cater to tourists these days)

for your top-end restaurant: Per Se, Jean-Georges, or LB. I'd strongly suggest one of our top sushi places here as well (you simply don't have this in London).

um, ????????????????????????????????? BLH: you do realize that Bourdain hasn't set foot in that kitchen in many years? that it's just an ordinary bistro-type menu and that there are over a hundred similar restaurants in NY, many of them better? Rosa Mexicana: well, NY doesn't have great Mexican, but its better than most here and probably better than anything in London. Buddakan? ??????????????????????????????? this makes no sense. trust me. none. if you want Asian fusion we can suggest better places.

True that. When he made that clear, I told him that was fine and he should just serve us what he wanted. But, I think it's totally obnoxious for him to object. $125/person is a pretty generous budget, it should be enough headroom at Yasuda. And I told him that was loose, I wasn't going to be upset if he went over. I just didn't want to eat in fear that we would be blindsided by a $500 tab. I'm sorry, but I don't think a customer should be required to write a blank check prior to the meal. ← it wasn't the budget part per se that would have been the issue with him ($125 is about right for a dinner omakase there...unless you're really going to town...light appetites could even do it for less)...it was the salmon thing. with Yasuda always say "serve me what's good today'...asking specifically for salmon (and the kitchen dish....unless it was eel) pegged you (unfairly) as unworthy diners.

... and chorizo isn't a flavor that usually needs coaxing to come out of its smoky shell. That's too bad. How as the kampachi cut and cooked (if cooked at all)? ← it doesn't show any sign of cooking....and the cut left some chewy pieces.

some new dishes at Tailor.....and they really need to update the menus on the website. the chorizo-cured kampachi just doesn't work. the kampachi wasn't cut properly and the chorizo-curing was not in evidence. (chorizo and fish is certainly an old combination...and Ripert has been doing a "chorizo essence" (basically pressed chorizo oil) and fish pairing for years...but you couldn't taste any effect here). however, the latest version of the octopus dish is absolutely fantastic! perfectly cooked...the coffee ground accompaniment was a sterling and tasty foil for the tentacles. highly recommend this dish. foie and peanut butter for dessert.

the OP asked for more upscale possibilities.

yeah, Yasuda wouldn't like that.

20th century is traditionally a 2-1-1-1 of gin, lemon juice, lillet blanc and cacao. you'll want to tone down the cacao a bit from that. it's a great drink for the gin-phobic...my goto for them. the 19th century is described above. I believe the 21st century is a tequila variant.

the best vegetarian restaurants in NY are: Per Se, Daniel, Gramercy Tavern. any of the Blue Hill genre should be able to take care of you as well: Savoy, Back 40.

I should say that a simple nice touch for a restaurant at this price point was that the rolls were served warm.

the beer garden in Astoria servers mediocre Czech food.

personally, I agree...but they are examples of local, ingredient driven cooking.

to be clear, here is what Lederhosen is NOT: 1. haute Austrian. it's not Wallse, Danube, Cafe Gray or even Blaue Gans. 2. it's not contemporary upscale German either...(there are a number of Michelin three stars in Germany today) what Lederhosen is: 1. based upon one visit, probably better than Zum Schneider, Lorelei, Hallo Berlin, Rolf's (though not necessarily as "fun" as some of those places). 2. traditional German food...the kind you can still find both in bars and white table cloth places (Karl Ratzsch's, Mader's, the late John Ernst) in Wisconsin....think rouladen, sauerbrauten, and kassler ripchen. 3. the wurst is good, but not the main draw compared to other NY places...(though the weisswurst is quite good....delicate but juicy...the currywurst needed a bit more oomph) 4. sides are exceptional and copious. very good spaetzle. 5. fish dishes are prepared properly (very traditional....lots of herring and smoked mackerel....served with onions and mustard).... don't get me wrong, traditional German food is not a great cuisine. it's just not. (once you start going east in Europe the traditional foods start getting poor pretty quickly). but if you want to try it, this is the best I've had in NY by some margin. BTW, the beer selection is excellent...lots of stuff I haven't been able to find elsewhere in NY....like Spaten Optimator (one of my favorite beers ever).... prices are EXTREMELY reasonable....including on alcohol.

Ssam Bar, Ssam Bar, Ssam Bar. Babbo. maybe Blue Hill or Hearth or something like that. Yasuda. French you have. we have better Italian and sushi. Ssam Bar is sui generis... maybe Bouley Upstairs too.