Modern, elegant, beautiful venue for 14-18 people

[white lotus]

Greeting, I am white lotus from the NW forum. I have met some of you on your visits to Seattle & @ the Heartland Gathering. I hope you are able to give me imput on a dilemma.

My dear friend who is throwing this party for his long time partner is having difficulty figuring out the right restaurant to have this dinner for about 14 to 18 people. He lives in San Francisco and folks will be flying in from all around the US for this. I have looked at your forum index of restaurants which although interesting, did not assist me in getting any new ideas as to give helpful imput.

He was originally thinking about possibly something like Jewel Bako. BTW, I just heard that this venue may no longer be a great place. I digress, anyway, non-Asian family members of the birthday person informed him that they "don't do any raw fish" so now he is in a quandry as to what kind of place to book. The venue doesn't necessarily have to be Asian.

He wants the place to be elegant, modern, visually stunning & of course, have yummy food. The budget for the dinner will be about $60 - 80 dollars per person. The dinner will be on a Monday evening in sometime in July after the 4th. Thankyou for your time and thoughtfulness in advance.

Also, as I will be traveling by myself, any ideas where a mature-ish Asian-American should park her accomodations without loosing her bank account (I am still having to come up with one more year of college tuition for my kid). Since this is not food related, would you mind letting me know about any good websites or other leads via PMs or email.

I hope that I can meet some of you & return the favor if/when any of you visit us in the NW. Many thanks again. Cheers, wl

[Emily_R]

I was going to suggest Todd English's Mediterranean restaurant Olives? Fantastic food, beautiful decor... And it would be worth giving them a call to find out how they handle large parties. I seem to remember some curtained off tables, but don't remember how big they were...

[weinoo]

I don't know if that is so easily done within your budget - especially if it's an "all-in" budget, that is, including tax and gratuity.

I mean, a place described like this:

elegant, modern, visually stunning & of course, have yummy food.

tends to run at a bit higher price range.

We spent the low end of your range with a large party at 'inoteca, for example.

[oakapple]

That's right. Unfortunately, even in this recession environment, $60–80 all-inclusive is budget dining by NY standards. You won't get "elegant, modern, visually stunning," and of course great food, for that price.

[WK2]

Agree with everyone else. I think more responses would flow if the budget were higher, or if the requirements were "rustic, friendly, great food". I've been working on finding a caterer for my wedding, and I promise you that (while the situations aren't really analagous) New York is a crazy place when it comes to parties.

Given the high stakes (people coming in from all over the country and all) I'd maybe give up on visual stunningness cto oncentrate on something identifiably New York. Could you possibly stretch to something like Blue Hill? I think they have a small second room. Or maybe a Momofuku? They've got a private dining option at Ssam Bar.

[oakapple]

While you are clarifying your objectives, does $60–80 include tax, tip, and alcohol? There is a huge difference between $60 including tax, tip & drinks; and $80 with tax, tip & drinks extra.

[daisy17]

Eleven Madison has a private room that meets all of your requirements, but probably not your budget. Still may be worth a call.

[Eatmywords]

Yea, at that budget it’s going to be a bit tough to tick all those boxes. I mean if you want a pretty space with decent food (for non-foodies), I would look into a couple of the big, modern (pretty) Asian spots like Buddakan, Japonais, and dare I say on this site, even Tao. Good thing is that it’s a Monday and you should be able to get in anywhere (assuming they’re open). You can get theirs and every other NYC restaurant’s info and sites on www.menupages.com

[oakapple]

Eleven Madison has a private room that meets all of your requirements, but probably not your budget.  Still may be worth a call.

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Eleven Madison would be at least double the budget.

[daisy17]

Eleven Madison has a private room that meets all of your requirements, but probably not your budget.  Still may be worth a call.

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Eleven Madison would be at least double the budget.

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I don't know if I agree with that. I would call and see.

Edited May 15, 2009 by daisy17 (log)

[LPShanet]

Yea, at that budget it’s going to be a bit tough to tick all those boxes.  I mean if you want a pretty space with decent food (for non-foodies), I would look into a couple of the big, modern (pretty) Asian spots like Buddakan, Japonais, and dare I say on this site, even Tao.  Good thing is that it’s a Monday and you should be able to get in anywhere (assuming they’re open).  You can get theirs and every other NYC restaurant’s info and sites on www.menupages.com

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I agree with all that's been said upthread with regard to price level, etc. However, I'd like to throw another (I think better) Asian big box into the considered mix. En Japanese Brasserie. In my opinion, the space is VERY attractive, and the food there is better than Buddakan's, and a lot better than that at Japonais or Tao these days. It's also more authentic, more elegant and less crazy in terms of noise and other undesirable factors. The price would still be a little above your stated range (unless you were talking about food only), but less so than EMP and some of the others upthread.

[oakapple]

Eleven Madison has a private room that meets all of your requirements, but probably not your budget.  Still may be worth a call.

←

Eleven Madison would be at least double the budget.

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I don't know if I agree with that. I would call and see.

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Well, the cheapest dinner option at EMP is $88 before tax, tip and beverages, so if you drink water you're 62% above the midpoint of their price range, assuming 20% service. EMP is out unless they are willing to spend dramatically more.

[daisy17]

Eleven Madison has a private room that meets all of your requirements, but probably not your budget.  Still may be worth a call.

←

Eleven Madison would be at least double the budget.

←

I don't know if I agree with that. I would call and see.

←

Well, the cheapest dinner option at EMP is $88 before tax, tip and beverages, so if you drink water you're 62% above the midpoint of their price range, assuming 20% service. EMP is out unless they are willing to spend dramatically more.

←

I don't think you just order off the regular menu in the private dining space. At least you don't for lunch. They put together a smaller menu for us and it definitely was not the prix fixe price.

[white lotus]

The $60 - 80 is food only. Tax, gratuity, drinks, cocktails cost not included. Sorry for not including those important details. Hopefully, we still don't have to compromise on the visuals and most importantly, the ultimate yumminess. Again, the venue does not necessarily have to be Asian. Not that I would "cave" for non-Asian in-laws but my friend (childhood friend who comes from much better family than I) is a much nicer person who is trying his best to make this occasion special. Hopefully, this ease in budget makes it a little easier for the discussion.

Thankyou for the heads-up to the menu.com website. I have printed out some of the menus, read reviews and started following-up on some of your leads. To say the least, this is also invaluable in structuring my own personal food crawl while I am visiting your locale.

Keep the discussion going as I am finding your comments valuable and a great place to start the search.

edited to add budget specifics and clean up grammer/typos...

Edited May 15, 2009 by white lotus (log)

[weinoo]

Just so you know, if the $60 - $80 is for food only, then you're actually looking at spending a minimum of $100 per person - because even at $60 for food only, that becomes closer to $78 with tax and tip. Add a drink or two and/or a couple glasses of wine, and you're at $100.

Also, I would not put a lot of faith into the reviews at menupages...but eGullet and various other foodie sites are good sources.

[Pan]

The anonymous "reviews" on menupages.com should be ignored, but the menus - though not always up-to-date - are a useful reference (as are the phone numbers and addresses).

Another site, which has photos of actual menus, is menupix.com. But it's best to look at restaurants' own websites (many of which are linked from menupages.com), where available.

[MichaelCE]

Greeting, I am white lotus from the NW forum.  I have met some of you on your visits to Seattle & @ the Heartland Gathering.  I hope you are able to give me imput on a dilemma.

My dear friend who is throwing this party for his long time partner is having difficulty figuring out the right restaurant to have this dinner for about 14 to 18 people.  He lives in San Francisco and folks will be flying in from all around the US for this.  I have looked at your forum index of restaurants which although interesting, did not assist me in getting any new ideas as to give helpful imput.

He was originally thinking about possibly something like Jewel Bako.  BTW, I just heard that this venue may no longer be a great place.  I digress, anyway, non-Asian family members of the birthday person informed him that they "don't do any raw fish" so now he is in a quandry as to what kind of place to book.  The venue doesn't necessarily have to be Asian.

He wants the place to be elegant, modern, visually stunning & of course, have yummy food.  The budget for the dinner will be about $60 - 80 dollars per person.  The dinner will be on a Monday evening in sometime in July after the 4th.  Thankyou for your time and thoughtfulness in advance. 

Also, as I will be traveling by myself, any ideas where a mature-ish Asian-American should park her accomodations without loosing her bank account (I am still having to come up with one more year of college tuition for my kid).  Since this is not food related, would you mind letting me know about any good websites or other leads via PMs or email.

I hope that I can meet some of you & return the favor if/when any of you visit us in the NW.  Many thanks again.  Cheers, wl 

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I think you should check out the private room at Aquavit.

[SusanGiff]

Try Marea. Gorgeous.

[white lotus]

The anonymous "reviews" on menupages.com should be ignored, but the menus - though not always up-to-date - are a useful reference (as are the phone numbers and addresses).

Another site, which has photos of actual menus, is menupix.com. But it's best to look at restaurants' own websites (many of which are linked from menupages.com), where available.

←

menupix.com duly noted and surprised that I am just now aware of all these foodie tools to put on my computer bookmarks. EMP, Aquavit, Marea are now on my personal short list. I am just now starting to make a small dent in reading your NYC forum & other websites, for reviews, etc. This is getting to be a little overwhelming but I will survive. I am also getting a sense of the Manhatten geography which I know for you is probably a no-brainer. Your ideas are invalueable to me, please continue... sincerely, wl

[SusanGiff]

Has he made a decision yet? Just curious.

[Wemedge]

bouley downstairs for sure!