The Fifty Essential Manhattan Restaurants

[Wilfrid]

I made this list for my own purposes, then thought I may as well throw it up here to attract opprobrium and brickbats.  Like everyone, I appreciate having a wide choice of restaurants to choose from.  However, it is in my character to dither indecisively when I am presented with too much choice.  To save sweat, therefore, I listed the fifty restaurants which I will essentially be choosing from when I make a dinner reservation in Manhattan.

Some qualifiers:  I haven't listed the good, cheap joints where a reservation is not needed.  Obviously, there are some new places I haven't tried yet.  In order to get it down to fifty, I shelved the steakhouses - I do have my preferences, but I will normally choose between steakhouses depending where I want to eat rather than by fine distinctions in the cuisine.  Some places which got left out are truly okay, but I have no reason to go back (example?  Della Femina).  Yes, this could have been a list of fifty three or fifty four, but I prize neatness.  Finally, there are several obvious omissions because, not for wanting of trying, I haven't yet sampled them:  Babbo, Esca, Nobu, Alain Ducasse - I don't really care about Union Square Cafe.  Okay, go ahead and chew it up and spit it out.  or tell me places that really should be added:

Alison on Dominick

Aquagrill

Aquavit

Artisanal

Bayard's

Bid

Blue Hill

Café Boulud

Carlyle

Cello

Chanterelle

City Hall

Craft

Daniel

dB Bistro Moderne

Eleven Madison Park

Felidia

Fleur de Sel

Gotham Bar & Grill

Gramercy Tavern

Ilo

Jarnac

Jean-Georges

JoJo

Kuruma Zushi

L'Absinthe

La Caravelle

La Cote Basque

La Grenouille

La Lunchonette

Le Cirque

Le Gigot

Les Halles

Lespinasse

Lutece

March

Mesa Grill

Montrachet

Oceana

Patria

Picholine

San Domenico

Sushisay

Tabla

Toqueville

Union Pacific

Verbena

Veritas

Zoe

[macrosan]

Oh dear, I've eaten at only 5 of these :( and in all honesty I wouldn't hurry back to any of them. Based on one experience only at each, I would classify them all as basically OK but well below expectations and price.

Aquavit

La Grenouille

Le Cirque

Lutece

Montrachet

I need to get started on the other 45 on your list, Wilfrid, but I don't think I have sufficient years left in me :(

[ericw]

Wow, what a shocker (extreme sarcasm). You picked all of the most popular restaurants in town. It looks just like every other list we've all seen hundreds of times.

[tommy]

i'm glad you included zoe on your list.  i don't see it in most top 50 or essential lists.  IMO, it offers very good bang-for-the-buck.  a very casual atmosphere with very good food and a cool and unpretentious atmosphere.  as for the rest, well, there's little to debate!

[Ron Johnson]

ericw:  Instead of just being extremely sarcastic, why don't you give us your list of the top 50 or tell us why you thing some (or all) of these choices are bad.  You can't just hit and run.

[Wilfrid]

Quote: from ericw on 4:27 pm on Jan. 22, 2002

Wow, what a shocker (extreme sarcasm).

Hey, as I've said before, I have no problem with being correct.  The last thing this was supposed to be was a list of surprises or secrets.  And in fact, I notice you're wrong anyway:  using Zagat's as a rough guide, I find I omit eight of the top twenty most popular Manhattan restaurants.

I suspect there are some contributors lurking around here who may, nevertheless, think my list is wrong, or at least too heavily weighted in certain gastronomic directions.  

Macrosan:  I can certainly imagine being diappointed at four or five you mention, certainly on the "value" front, but I'm sorry you were unlucky at Aguagrill.  I would have identified that as a pretty reliable and fairly priced place.  

(Edited by Wilfrid at 5:32 pm on Jan. 22, 2002)

(Edited by Wilfrid at 5:36 pm on Jan. 22, 2002)

[macrosan]

Assuming you mean Aquavit, Wilfrid ;) .... yeah, that's what Mr Shaw told me. I did a pretty scathing review and he suggested I "wasn't in the mood for fine dining"

Everyone seems to rate the place so highly, I am happy to assume one of us (Aquavit or I) had an off day. I'll go back and try again.

[Wilfrid]

No, I did mean Aquagrill, because I have lost the ability to read.  Sorry.  You did of course say Aquavit, and I can imagine a disappointing meal there too.   It's a pretty unusual menu, and the waterfall can cause motion sickness!  How many of these places get it right every time?  

[Fat Guy]

I'm not sure I can handle a simultaneous discussion of fifty restaurants, not including proposed alternates. This sounds like a job for Plotnicki. I also find that such lists are mostly apples-and-oranges. I'd be a lot better equipped to discuss the top restaurants in a specific category. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to compare your list to the Zagat list and the list of restaurants with New York Times stars.

[TL]

Wilfrid,

In my experience, the following from your list significantly underachieve:

Daniel

Felidia (hit or miss, but I've had too many misses to include in the top 50 list)

Gotham Bar & Grill (serious offender)

Jean-Georges

Le Cirque

Mesa Grill (the biggest disappointment on the list)

The rest on you list either deserve to be there or I haven't tried them yet.

[tommy]

Quote: from TL on 9:26 pm on Jan. 22, 2002

Wilfrid,

In my experience, the following from your list significantly underachieve:

Daniel

Felidia (hit or miss, but I've had too many misses to include in the top 50 list)

Gotham Bar & Grill (serious offender)

Jean-Georges

Le Cirque

Mesa Grill (the biggest disappointment on the list)

The rest on you list either deserve to be there or I haven't tried them yet.

hmmm.  i never got to sit at mesa grill, because both of the times i was there (with a reservation), the hostess pissed me off so much that i walked out.  too much 'tude, not enough substance, imho.

daniel, went once.  in the middle of my order, a server walked up to ours and started talking to him.  my server turned his head to listen to this fella, who obviously had something to say that was much important than my order.  i'll never go back because of that.  (yes, i'm petty, but there are too many places i haven't been to)

[Wilfrid]

Thanks for the comments.  Others have said the same of Felidia - maybe I've just been lucky.  Mesa Grill - well, I always plan to be seated around forty minutes late there, so that never comes as a surprise.  In many ways, it's really not my kind of place, but I have found the food consistently good - not true of Bolo, I must say.

I think restaurants like Daniel, Jean-Georges and Le Cirque easily disappoint because the reputations and prices raise expectations excessively high.  I've certainly had disappointing dishes at each of them.

Tommy, I know what you mean about that kind of service.  When I ate at Cello recently, I had a captain who was perfectly pleasant but had the attention span of a gnat.  While taking orders from me, he kept noticing things out of the corner of his eye which needed his attention.  Well done on the all-round vision, but at one point, when he swivelled to deal with something while I was in mid-sentence, I did find myself saying "Bye then, see you later."  I guess I must have been in a good mood, because it didn't upset me as much as it probably should have.

[Christopher]

Quote: from ericw on 4:27 pm on Jan. 22, 2002

Wow, what a shocker (extreme sarcasm). You picked all of the most popular restaurants in town. It looks just like every other list we've all seen hundreds of times.

Yes. Steven wrote a review of Fried Dumpling on 3/1/01 which addresses this occurence wherein his readers were frequently dissapointed when a list of his most favorite restaurants included the usual suspects.

That somehow we keep expecting to hear about an obscure spot in an unmarked brownstone frequented only by Basque natives and their invited guests and that you only need to leave a small donation at the door ...

I'm paraphrasing here but Hal says in HENRY IV ( an he's paraphrasing scripture) "Wisdom stands shouting on the street corner and no one pays attention."

Which says to me that there is some merit in a list of usual suspects.

[TCD]

I made a list of my 50 or so "sure thing" spots (for purposes of business, entertaining or requested recommendations) in NYC a few years back and make an effort to update on an annual basis.  The list currenly reads as follows (although some places on the list are "overrated" vis-a-vis general hype and zagat numbers, they are still, in my experience, in the current group of the most reliable NYC establishments for an all around strong dining experience):

Bellini

Bouterin

Gramercy Tavern

Gotham B&G

Daniel

Bouley Bakery

Aquavit

Picholine

Molyvos

Alison on D'k St

Babbo

Bayards

Blue Water Grill

Tabla

Carlyle

Cavier Russe

Cello

Chanterelle

Craft

11 Madison Park

Felidia

57 57

Four Seasons

Honmura An

Inagiku

I Trulli

La Caravelle

La Cote Basque

Le Perigord

Lespinasse

March

Nobu

Oceana

Peacock Alley (is this still open?)

Periyali

Petrossian

Primavera

Rothmann's

Savoy

Scalini Fedeli

Sernya

Shun Lee Palace

Sushi Yasuda

Town

Triomphe

Tse Yeng

U.P.

Veritas

Jo Jo

db

(Edited by TCD at 1:43 pm on Jan. 23, 2002)

[Wilfrid]

TCD, I'm glad it's not just me that keeps these lists.  Interesting:  we would probably have a little over 50% in common if I had managed to get to Babbo and a couple of others on your list.  

Laurent Gras left Peacock Alley last year, or I would certainly have included.  I don't know if it continues in any form.  Also, I assumed Bouley Bakery was still closed, or I'd have listed that too.  I read recently that the Le Perigord had been overhauled and modernised; I certainly liked it when it was old school.

[TCD]

I thought I read Bouley Bakery re-opened but I'm not certain.  Le Perigord was closed while is completed a re-modeling a year or more ago (architect was the son of the owner).  New chef as well, but still somewhat old school.  A very comfortable dining experience.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Chris Russell - Is that you, "the" Chris? If it is, this is Steve, remember from the crazy wine dinners with Paul Silberbush from a few years ago?

(Edited by Steve Plotnicki at 12:28 am on Jan. 24, 2002)

[Steve Plotnicki]

I've been having a hard time responding to this list. I mean there are a number of places I could easily dispute, but given personal prefernces I don't see how I could muster up a serious argument. In general, it's a fine list. And agreeing or disagreeing comes down to splitting hairs over the definition of the word "essential."

But even though my list would probably be different by at least 50%, if I was forced to only dine at your list, life would still be pretty good.

[Christopher]

Quote: from Steve Plotnicki on 12:27 am on Jan. 24, 2002

Chris Russell - Is that you, "the" Chris? If it is, this is Steve, remember from the crazy wine dinners with Paul Silberbush from a few years ago?

(Edited by Steve Plotnicki at 12:28 am on Jan. 24, 2002)

Yes.

Where've you been? ;)