Help! Suggestions for last minute RSVP

[mmm_chocolate]

I am looking to secure a last minute reservation for 6 people this Sat. evening Nov. 10th. I am already too late for Grammercy Tavern, 11 Madison or Hearth. I am looking for a restaurant that will provide an amazing dining experience with an amazing atmosphere.....that isn't already booked solid on Saturday night. I am new to NY and so only know the bigger more obvious names in dining in NYC.....anyone who can suggest a great restaurant where we may be able to reserve for a larger party in short notice would be greatly appreciated! Money is not a limitation, and location just needs to be in Manhattan.

I feel like this is "Mission Impossible" --- we do have a 6:30 backup at both Tribeca Grill and Fiamma (only places I called who could accommodate us), but Tribeca seems to have the reputation of a "tourist" place and Fiamma has received mixed reviews since Trabocchi took over. So I'd love some other options, just don't know where to look!!

Thanks for your ideas!

Michelle

[raji]

I am looking to secure a last minute reservation for 6 people this Sat. evening Nov. 10th. I am already too late for Grammercy Tavern, 11 Madison or Hearth.  I am looking for a restaurant that will provide an amazing dining experience with an amazing atmosphere.....that isn't already booked solid on Saturday night.  I am new to NY and so only know the bigger more obvious names in dining in NYC.....anyone who can suggest a great restaurant where we may be able to reserve for a larger party in short notice would be greatly appreciated!  Money is not a limitation, and location just needs to be in Manhattan.

I feel like this is "Mission Impossible" --- we do have a 6:30 backup at both Tribeca Grill and Fiamma (only places I called who could accommodate us), but Tribeca seems to have the reputation of a "tourist" place and Fiamma has received mixed reviews since Trabocchi took over.  So I'd love some other options, just don't know where to look!! 

Thanks for your ideas! 

Michelle

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That's a toughie - more than 4 peole, 6:30 on a saturday is gonna be tough anywhere good! What are your cuisines are you looking for? I'm such a shill for Japanese dining, i could definitely recommend several places... but it sounds like you want New american or italian...

One thought is, you might try places serving the theatre district, because their first seatiings will all be on the early side - like the Modern, Abboccato, and all the places in TW Center. Marseilles could be a solid backup for you, i'm still quite fond of that restaurant.

[azlee]

I am looking to secure a last minute reservation for 6 people this Sat. evening Nov. 10th. I am already too late for Grammercy Tavern, 11 Madison or Hearth.  I am looking for a restaurant that will provide an amazing dining experience with an amazing atmosphere.....that isn't already booked solid on Saturday night.  I am new to NY and so only know the bigger more obvious names in dining in NYC.....anyone who can suggest a great restaurant where we may be able to reserve for a larger party in short notice would be greatly appreciated!  Money is not a limitation, and location just needs to be in Manhattan.

I feel like this is "Mission Impossible" --- we do have a 6:30 backup at both Tribeca Grill and Fiamma (only places I called who could accommodate us), but Tribeca seems to have the reputation of a "tourist" place and Fiamma has received mixed reviews since Trabocchi took over.  So I'd love some other options, just don't know where to look!! 

Thanks for your ideas! 

Michelle

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try devi or any of the patina group resturants

[daisy17]

Take a look at opentable - seems like you could get into Alto which just got a pretty good review in the times, or Cru, which is one of my absolute favorites. I would call though, for a party of that many, rather than just relying on what times opentable shows you.

[kathryn]

There are also certain restaurants who only let large parties (greater than 5 or so) reserve, so although they are more boisterous and casual places it might be worth a shot. Off the top of my head:

Freemans

Tia Pol

Blue Ribbon Brasserie/Bakery

Cacio e Pepe (I think)

Boqueria

Lupa

Momofuku Ssam Bar (although it's probably too late to get the Bo Ssam, and it's not a good place to take non-pork and non-seafood eaters)

[mmm_chocolate]

Thank you sooo much...this gives me hope! As to cuisines, I am open, so Japanese would be considered as long as the atmosphere was upscale. I am going to start investigating these options and will let you know where we end up.

[tupac17616]

alto 6

annisa 9

anthos 9

apizz 6

country 6

craftbar 7 or 930

craftsteak 7 or 9

cru 530

danube 6 or 930

felidia 545

fleur de sel 915

gonzo 630 or 8

gotham 530

hearth 6

insieme 630 or 830

knife + fork 8

le cirque 630 or 9

oeust 530

perry st 530

quality meats 630

porter house 845

salt 6 or 830

town 715 or 8

trestle on tenth 9

granted, some of the above times are absolutely horrible, but there are lost of options depending on what exactly you're looking for.

personally, i would book anthos at 9:00 and call it a day.

[Steve R.]

Take a look at opentable - seems like you could get into Alto which just got a pretty good review in the times, or Cru, which is one of my absolute favorites.  I would call though, for a party of that many, rather than just relying on what times opentable shows you.

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Opentable.com says that Hearth is available at 10pm (so's WD-50) for 6 on Sat. but I'm guessing that's too late for you? Insieme is showing full availability and I hope you know that's Marco's other (newer) place. And, as others said, calling is not a bad idea, even if you think there's no chance.

[Fat Guy]

I suggest you take another run at Eleven Madison Park. It's a large restaurant with a number of tables that can be reconfigured to accommodate large parties. See if they have a waiting list, express your desire to dine there, and keep calling back. It's possible -- no guarantees, but possible -- that if you're persistent they'll come through with something eventually.

we do have a 6:30 backup at both Tribeca Grill and Fiamma

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I hope you'll cancel one of those. There are most likely other people looking for tables that night, and you holding two reservations when you know you can only use one does them a disservice.

[mmm_chocolate]

I suggest you take another run at Eleven Madison Park. It's a large restaurant with a number of tables that can be reconfigured to accommodate large parties. See if they have a waiting list, express your desire to dine there, and keep calling back. It's possible -- no guarantees, but possible -- that if you're persistent they'll come through with something eventually.

we do have a 6:30 backup at both Tribeca Grill and Fiamma

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I hope you'll cancel one of those. There are most likely other people looking for tables that night, and you holding two reservations when you know you can only use one does them a disservice.

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Yes, I know its rude to double book. ... I'm going to choose tonight/tomorrow and cancel what we won't use. I am on a few waiting lists, so hopefully some first choice restaurants will call!

[mmm_chocolate]

alto 6

annisa 9

anthos 9

apizz 6

country 6

craftbar 7 or 930

craftsteak 7 or 9

cru 530

danube 6 or 930

felidia 545

fleur de sel 915

gonzo 630 or 8

gotham 530

hearth 6

insieme 630 or 830

knife + fork 8

le cirque 630 or 9

oeust 530

perry st 530

quality meats 630

porter house 845

salt 6 or 830

town 715 or 8

trestle on tenth 9

granted, some of the above times are absolutely horrible, but there are lost of options depending on what exactly you're looking for.

personally, i would book anthos at 9:00 and call it a day.

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You are amazing, Tupac, I feel like I should pay you for this service! Thanks for the help!

[mmm_chocolate]

Thanks to everyone. You've definitely given me the options I was looking for. I think we're going to go with Alto at 6. We have people training up and back from Philly and babysitter issues, so the later RSVPs won't work well for our group. And eating before 7 isn't ideal, but I'm just happy to find a great place on such short notice. This thread will be a great list for every time I get back in to NYC...and next time I'll call three weeks in advance.

[Jonathan Kaplan]

As luck would have it, I found myself in roughly the same position as Michelle -- on Monday, November 5th, I found out that I had been designated as the guy to find good/fun places to eat in NY for 6 people on Thursday 11/8, eight people on Friday 11/9, and 6 people on Saturday 11/10! Fortunately, I found this thread, and everyone had pretty flexible schedules. Here is what we did:

Thursday, November 8th. WD-50. 9PM reservations. This worked out well for us because we in fact had to be at SUNY Stonybrook until 6PM, and then had to drive back to Brooklyn and then make our way into Manhattan. It was a very nice meal, but before I go further, I feel the need to rant mildly, and then less mildly:

Begin mild rant:

Why do so many restaurants demand that *everyone* order the tasting menu if anyone does? Yes, I know it is more convenient for the servers, and makes life easier in the kitchen, but I've been to a number of fine restaurants that haven't had a problem figuring out how to serve radically different numbers of courses to the different people eating together. I would have had the tasting menus at every restaurant I was at, as would at least 2 or 3 other people in each party, but none of us could because not everyone wanted to.

Begin less mild rant:

OK, so WD-50, like most places, demands that everyone get the tasting menu if anyone does. Fine. But for the love of god, is there any plausible reason why everyone has to order the damned dessert tasting menu if anyone does? By the time dessert has rolled around, people are sipping after dinner drinks, some people are getting dessert and some aren't, how bloody difficult would it really be to serve a few tasting dessert menus and a few ordinary desserts? This, in fact, really did piss me off. In the end, as I note below, the problem was "solved" by my simply ordering 4 desserts to share w/ one of my companions. But frankly the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't the money -- the 5 course tasting menu, which is what I wanted, was every bit as expensive as the 4 desserts -- but the attitude.

Rants end.

OK, I started off with the "Fried quail, banana tartar, nasturtium." It was quite nice, but should have been better -- the banana tartar especially needed to be a little more aggressively seasoned. I also tasted the "Grilled octopus, avocado, juniper, lychee-campari" -- the texture of the octopus was simply remarkable. The taste combo didn't do all much for me, but wow, the texture was cool.

For my main, I had the "Lamb loin, potato noodles, mustard crumbs, pretzel consomme" It, again, was very very good, but not remarkable. Again, the bit players (the mustard crumbs, noodles, etc.) weren't nearly as interesting as their descriptions.

For dessert, I split 4 dishes w/one of my dining companions (see rant above):

Fried butterscotch pudding, mango, taro, smoked macadamia

Soft white chocolate, potato, malt, white beer ice cream

Grapefruit custard, elderflower, blueberry, basil

Milk chocolate mousse, peanut, goji berry, whipped soy milk

Of these, the fried butterscotch was great, and everything else was fine, with the exception of the wheat beer ice cream, which was remarkable. I was the only person who tasted it who actually like it, but I really really loved it. I thought it was by far the most innovative and clever dish of the evening.

In the end, we had 3 quite nice reasonably priced bottles of wine ($60-80ish) and after dinner drinks, and the total bill came out to around $140/person inc. tax and tips.

Friday, November 9th. Vong. 6:30PM reservations, 8 people.

Vong was more or less exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed it more than I expected to. I shared the "Appetizer tasting plate" which consisted of the

Crab Spring rolls

Raw Tuna rolls

Lobster and Daikon rolls

Spiced Quail

Prawn Satay

All of which were very nice, though not stand-outs, really. For my main, I had the "Lobster with Thai herbs and bok choy." It was a very good lobster, cooked well, not overwhelmed by the seasonings, but neither did it really stand out as a remarkable combination. The "Passion Fruit Souffle" for dessert was quite nice.

Again, we had 3 nice-ish bottles of wine, plus before and after dinner drinks, and the total came out to around $100/person, inc. tax and tips.

Saturday, November 10th. Hearth. 6PM reservations.

This was my favorite meal of the three. We were started with a quite nice amuse of warm cauliflower soup. I then had the "Artichoke Salad with Cranberry Beans, Parmesan, Escarole and Black Truffle Vinaigrette." It was, to my mind, excellent. Probably not to everyone's taste, but it hit all the right notes for me.

Similarly, my main, the "Roasted Pork Loin with Braised Pork Belly, Spiced Sausage, Brussels Sprouts, Pomegranate and Chanterelles" was, for me, quite wonderful. One of my companions, whose taste I respect, did not enjoy it nearly as much as I did. I loved the slightly crunchy, slightly bitter, barely caramelized brussel sprouts -- she thought they were too bitter and hadn't been cooked long enough. I loved the nearly unadorned pork -- cooked perfectly, subtly salty, rich tasting. She felt it needed a sauce of some kind. Etc. This isn't to say she didn't enjoy her dish -- she just didn't love it in quite the same way I did.

For dessert, I got the "Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Huckleberries" Again, I loved this dish. Again, not everyone who tasted it did. I also tasted the "Sorbet sampler" on which, unfortunately, there was broad agreement -- it wasn't very good. It represented a good try, but the apple sorbet, in particularly, was too "thin" and watery to hold its own.

The wines were excellent, and quite reasonably priced. We started with a 1992 Riesling Spatlese by Zillikan. It was awesome -- it had that wonderful creamy-ness that rieslings get with a bit of bottle age, but was still nicely balanced. We then moved on to a Riesling Auslese, by Carl Schmitt-Wagner, 2005. Again, a great wine -- crisp and fun. Finally, our server suggested a Pouilly-Fuissé -- again, I loved it, as did the one other winey guy there, but other people were less thrilled, ranging from liking it but not loving it, to really not liking it.

With some after dinner drinks, the total came to about $120/person.

Of the three, I would go back to Hearth in a heart-beat, and I'm willing to try WD-50 again, if I go with people who will order the tasting menus.

Thanks to everyone here for the helpful input, which, while not directed towards me, benefited me enormously.

Jonathan

[Melissa Hom]

Wow, this is a GREAT way to get other people to do your research and footwork! I know I'm sarcastic, but honestly, I'm impressed at how invested everyone is to helping one another. It's heartwarming.

But hey, my birthday is this Saturday and I need a... : P

Edited November 14, 2007 by Melissa Hom (log)

[tupac17616]

mmm_chocolate, don't thank me, thank opentable! And how was alto?

Melissa Hom, how many people and what time and...?

[Melissa Hom]

mmm_chocolate, don't thank me, thank opentable!     And how was alto?

Melissa Hom, how many people and what time and...? 

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Haha, thanks for the offer. I'm sure I'd love to say Masa, or even oversee the sunset at Perry Street. But I'm a low-key person, and a broke one at that. I'd just love a great spot to coddle my thoughts, people-watch, nibble, and draw out good, strong coffee or espresso for as long as possible. For one.

Edited November 15, 2007 by Melissa Hom (log)

[MsAzadi]

Haha, thanks for the offer. I'm sure I'd love to say Masa, or even oversee the sunset at Perry Street. But I'm a low-key person, and a broke one at that. I'd just love a great spot to coddle my thoughts, people-watch, nibble, and draw out good, strong coffee or espresso for as long as possible. For one.

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Have a great day Melissa!