Need Help for a day in NYC

[bgut1]

Wife just surprised me with a day in the city for Friday the 29th. Even though we live less than an hour from the City, its is quite a rare occurrence to get in for a meal let alone a whole day given that we have three very young children. That being said, we thought we would do a lunch, some shopping (maybe a museum), then some drinks and few small plates (rather not do a full dinner) before we return home. Some lunch ideas include Gordon Ramsey and Jean Georges (years since we last dined there), with drinks and appetizers at the Bar at the Modern. Any assistance would be appreciated.

[scootcoo]

27$ three course prefixe menu at Gotham Bar and Grill between 12 and 2 p.m. can not be beaten for lunch....and dinner, well wd-50 of course...but if you arent feelin that, Bar Jamon offers some great tapas style dishes for picking and choosing

[xyz123]

Jean Georges or Perry St for lunch. There is no better food for the money served anywhere in the city

Robuchon for small plates and drinks for dinner

Wd 50 was one of my favorite restaurants , my last meal there was horrible

3 of us ordered 14 dishes all poorly cooked/prepared/executed

poorly plated, flavor and taste virtually none existing

[Ling]

I enjoyed my recent lunch at Jean Georges more than Gordon Ramsey, though both are solid picks.

[bgut1]

I enjoyed my recent lunch at Jean Georges more than Gordon Ramsey, though both are solid picks.

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Thanks for all the recommendations. Being a big fan of GR, I've wanted to try his place however, GR's limited lunch menu and Ling's post really makes me want to try JG again. The hamachi and the caviar egg really does it for me. Xyx123 - while I think Robuchon is a fantastic idea for small plates, I believe two "fancy" restaurants in one day will be too much for my non-foodie wife. Something a little more casual (but with great food) will do.

[bgut1]

I enjoyed my recent lunch at Jean Georges more than Gordon Ramsey, though both are solid picks.

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Thanks for all the recommendations. Being a big fan of GR, I've wanted to try his place however, GR's limited lunch menu and Ling's post really makes me want to try JG again. The hamachi and the caviar egg really does it for me. Xyx123 - while I think Robuchon is a fantastic idea for small plates, I believe two "fancy" restaurants in one day will be too much for my non-foodie wife. Something a little more casual (but with great food) will do.

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I guess I should have spoken to my wife first .... while she wouldn't mind returning to JG, she doesn't want to dress up. She wants to wear jeans and be comfortable for our day of "shopping". Now where do we go? Doh!!!!

[BryanZ]

What kind of jeans?

If she dresses them up she could do JG. Perry St. wouldn't be a problem at all. Drinks at The Modern are still feasible, too.

I'm sure your wife can pull it off. It's something like a compromise.

[tupac17616]

L'Atelier could be lunch or dinner. The menu is the same, with the exception of the $70 club menu available at lunch only. Seems like a decent deal to me, although I've not yet been for lunch. Jeans could work there, as well.

[Nathan]

Jeans are fine for Perry Street.

there is no better deal than lunch at JG or PS in the city. Period.

(if PS were more up-town people would be raving about it all the time)

Edited December 26, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

(Even if it were more centrally located downtown.)

JG and Perry Street are clearly the two great high-end lunch deals in NYC.

In terms of placating your wife, though, Perry Street has the advantage of seeming much less like a "big deal."

The only problem is, it isn't likely to be very convenient to wherever you're planning to be.

[bgut1]

(Even if it were more centrally located downtown.)

JG and Perry Street are clearly the two great high-end lunch deals in NYC.

In terms of placating your wife, though, Perry Street has the advantage of seeming much less like a "big deal."

The only problem is, it isn't likely to be very convenient to wherever you're planning to be.

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Perry Street sounds like it would be the ticket if it wasn't so out of the way. Is there is a second tier of restaurants (good food and casual) that is more centrally located?

[Sneakeater]

Where are you going to be? How are you planning to get around? (I ask because if you're going to be in, say, Midtown and are willing to take a cab downtown to eat, it doesn't really matter how out-of-the-way Perry Street is, cuz once you're in a cab it's as easy to get there as anywhere else. OTOH, if you want to stick to the neighborhood you're going to be in, then we'd have to know which neighborhood that is in order to avoid recommending places that are inconvenient for you even if they're not particulary out-of-the-way as a general matter.)

Edited December 27, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Mayur]

Another vote for Jean-Georges.

Perry Street is good, but IMHO lunch there is just a notch lower in true fabulosity than the lunch experience at JG. If you drop $50 or so on lunch there, you will have enjoyed a meal that has few equals, anywhere.

I really don't understand the fuss about L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, but hey, such an overwhelming majority makes me wonder. If you want something a bit more casual and less of a big deal for dinner, the bar room at the Modern might be a nice idea; wd-50 is reasonably casual as well if you only go 3-4 courses and skip the tasting menu blowout. (Unlike xyz123, I've been uniformly satisfied there.)

[bgut1]

Where are you going to be?  How are you planning to get around?  (I ask because if you're going to be in, say, Midtown and are willing to take a cab downtown to eat, it doesn't really matter how out-of-the-way Perry Street is, cuz once you're in a cab it's as easy to get there as anywhere else.  OTOH, if you want to stick to the neighborhood you're going to be in, then we'd have to know which neighborhood that is in order to avoid recommending places that are inconvenient for you even if they're not particulary out-of-the-way as a general matter.)

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Your probably right. We intended to stay in Midtown so I guess the cab ride would not be that bad.

[Ling]

If your wife dresses up those jeans like BryanZ suggested, I'm pretty sure she won't feel out of place in JG (especially at lunch.) At $250-300 a pair, some of those jeans deserve to be taken out to someplace fancy!

[bgut1]

At $250-300 a pair, some of those jeans deserve to be taken out to someplace fancy!

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Thanks Ling .... another excuse for my wife to do even more shopping.

[bgut1]

Okay - based solely on the recommendations of this board I booked for lunch at Perry Street. I've got to say however that I'm not going into this too excited. The menu doesn't really do it for me and the idea of JG "light" doesn't make me want to dine there (I'm not a light kind of guy - especially for a special dining experience). However, you guys are rarely wrong so I will place my dining fate in your hands. The $24 lunch special does sound like a great deal. We will probably add a fourth course for the extra $12. Any must haves on the menu? Thanks to all for the advice. I will report back on the experience. BTW, are there any no miss places in the area for the wife and I to check out while walking off lunch?

Edited December 28, 2006 by bgut1 (log)

[BryanZ]

The "lite" aspect of Perry St. refers not necessarily to the heaviness of the food--not many of JG's dishes are heavy in general even in the flagship--but rather their somewhat simplified nature. If you've had JG's food before and you're into his forays into the bitter, spicy, and sour ends of the flavor spectrum you'll be okay at Perry St.

If you want like the opposite, try to do lunch at Ramsay. Does A Voce do lunch?

[bgut1]

The "lite" aspect of Perry St. refers not necessarily to the heaviness of the food--not many of JG's dishes are heavy in general even in the flagship--but rather their somewhat simplified nature.  If you've had JG's food before and you're into his forays into the bitter, spicy, and sour ends of the flavor spectrum you'll be okay at Perry St.

If you want like the opposite, try to do lunch at Ramsay.  Does A Voce do lunch?

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Bryan - Thanks for the clarification. I'm not trying to prejudge and keep an open mind. I've dined in many of JG restaurants including Lafayette, JG, Vong, and Jo Jo so I'm not foreign to his cooking style.

[hughw]

You can make it an all Danny Meyer day. Lunch at Union Square Cafe and supper at the Bar ROom at the Modern. USC food will by very very good but usually not superlative. However, the staff and the generally relaxed atmosphere is wonderful any time of year but especially nice during the holiday season.

The Bar Room shoulc/can be coupled with a late afternoon visit to the Museum. WHen you arrive, you can go to the 5th floor Terrace for an espresso or cappacino and a biscotti for a pick-me-up. Then do the museum before supper. The nice thing about the Bar Room is that all their entrees are about 60% of the size of a normal dinner entree and price accordingly. You can have a nice meal with several starters or a starter and an entree. The menu is quite varied an imaginative with a somewhat Alsatian/Brasserie slant to it. And like all of DM's restaurants, the servers will be terrific. And the bar itself is a great place to sit.

[Nathan]

lunch at Perry Street is light years ahead of USC.

and there's a heck of a lot better shopping around PS (after lunch just walk straight east on Perry to Hudson and Bleecker...all the boutiques are there)

must-haves at PS? one of you has to order the beef tenderloin. highly recommend the bass...any shrimp dish that is on the menu. surprisingly enough -- the chicken is superb. sounds boring...but it's prepared three ways...each succulent and thrilling.

by the way, the menu changes pretty often -- I have no clue which menu you've seen...but the menu changed in the last month.

PS is one place, though, where the menu descriptions really don't tell you what the dish is about (which is fine with me ... I ate once at a relatively upscale midwestern restaurant that only had one or two-word titles for its dishes..."veal", "duck", "beef", "chicken", "red snapper", "potates" etc. (what they didn't tell you was that those potates came with foie gras)....I liked the concept)

[bgut1]

lunch at Perry Street is light years ahead of USC.

and there's a heck of a lot better shopping around PS (after lunch just walk straight east on Perry to Hudson and Bleecker...all the boutiques are there)

must-haves at PS?  one of you has to order the beef tenderloin.  highly recommend the bass...any shrimp dish that is on the menu.  surprisingly enough -- the chicken is superb.  sounds boring...but it's prepared three ways...each succulent and thrilling.

by the way, the menu changes pretty often -- I have no clue which menu you've seen...but the menu changed in the last month.

PS is one place, though, where the menu descriptions really don't tell you what the dish is about (which is fine with me ... I ate once at a relatively upscale midwestern restaurant that only had one or two-word titles for its dishes..."veal", "duck", "beef", "chicken", "red snapper", "potates" etc.  (what they didn't tell you was that those potates came with foie gras)....I liked the concept)

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Here is my report on Perry Street. The afternoon didn't start off too well as we left the house late (those darn kids) and decided to take the PATH in from Journal Square which added even more of a delay. We called the restaurant and they were very understanding. We had a 1 PM reservation and arrived sometime after 1:30 PM - thankfully the walk from the Christopher Street PATH Station was quite fast. We arrived at the restaurant to find it half empty. Notwithstanding same, we were seated in the back as the Hostess wished to give people "some room". While I initially objected my wife was happy with the location and we decided to stay put. We were presented with both the menu and a cocktail list. While some of the wines looked interesting, we decided to just drink water and soft drinks. My wife had diet coke while I had the homemade sodas. I first tried the cherry/yuzu (excellent) and then the lemon/thyme (okay but not great). After reviewing the menu we decided to order an extra course each for a total of four courses. Our choices were as follows:

Her - Frisee salad with goat cheese, tuna rolled in rice flakes, tuna burger and the chocolate pudding. Me - Chicken Soup, Red Snapper with 2 types of potatoes in a truffle sauce, beef with chanterelle mushrooms and a ravioli of some sort, and a white chocolate mousse with meringue napoleon with a yuzu sauce (the only other dessert available). Let me start off by saying that all the food was solid. That being said, I wasn't blown away or terribly impressed by any of the food except for the tuna and rice dish and my mousse dessert. I have to add that what truly makes the meal is the food/value ratio. As other posters have noted, you can't beat the price for the meal. A few individual comments on the dishes. The salad was good however it was way over dressed. Something a bit unexpected in a JG establishment (the perfectionist that he is). The chicken soup was a bit disappointing. I was expecting something more considering the write up it had received. Here I am bit critical on the lack of description on the menu. While I was expecting a homey classic preparation instead I was presented with a Tom Yum Goong soup. Something I would have expected at Vong not here. It was good none the less but it was not what I was looking for at that time. Another nit pick is the service. They take the trouble to bring out the dishes on a beautiful silver platter, but place the platter well out of the way so you don't see it being delivered. Our server constantly was having difficulty locating her tray stand and would deliver only one dish at a time (with a bit of a delay between serving both dishes of the course). Another faux pas was the delivery of the soup without a soup spoon. I waited at least 3 minutes before getting my waiters attention. My waiter did apologize and didn't miss a beat with other utensils thereafter. BTW, the amuse was a very nice sun choke soup with a tiny but very fragrant truffle shaved on top and there were no after dinner chocolates nor petit fours. Again, all in all a very solid meal and I would have no hesitation recommending it to friends. However, I don't think I will go out of my way to do so nor am I inclined to return. After the meal we walked around the village a bit and made our way down to Jacques Torres. We ordered a couple of his classic hot chocolates along with a giant chocolate cookie and a small box of chocolates. The cocoa was very rich and I found it quite enjoyable. My wife on the other hand couldn't take more than a little bit. The cookie was fabulous - one of the best I have ever eaten. The chocolates on the other hand were not all I thought they would be. But for a delicious few (the caramel and the PBJ) the rest we had were mediocre at best (cappuccino, milk, passion fruit, hazelnut). Maybe its the luck of the draw and we didn't choose right. We then made it uptown to check out the tree and see if we could score some show tickets at TKTS (bad idea as Rockefeller Center was mobbed and the wife spent too much money on cosmetics at Saks ). Nothing good was available so we decided to try our luck at Nobu 57. The wife and I are big Nobu fans and we haven’t had a chance to try this one. The place was a zoo. After a bit of persistence we were able to nab a lounge table after about 15 mins. The people watching alone made the night. Really classic uptown crowd - very fun to watch. We had our old stand bys (couldn't understand the reason for the limited lounge menu but most of our usual items were on the list). We had the lobster salad, the rock shrimp tempura w/ponzu, the white fish tiradito, toro tartare w/ caviar, and a couple of spicy tuna rolls (very pricey but worth it). Everything was perfect as usual. Before we left we decided to check out the upstairs dining room. What a beautiful room. We definitely want to come back. Thanks to all of you for your great advice. We had a lovely day. Happy New Year.

Edited January 2, 2007 by bgut1 (log)

[Sneakeater]

Many people have complained that Perry Street's menu is almost uniquely uninformative in terms of giving you an idea of what dishes are going to be like.

(I sort of enjoy the surprise myself. But I can see how it could be a pain.)

[bgut1]

Many people have complained that Perry Street's menu is almost uniquely uninformative in terms of giving you an idea of what dishes are going to be like.

(I sort of enjoy the surprise myself.  But I can see how it could be a pain.)

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I generally didn't mind, however in this case it sort of mislead me. I can understand a little "culinary liberty" however when you advertise chicken soup it shouldn't be Tom Yum. In rereading my post it may come across that I'm being too hyper critcal of Perry Street and that I didn't enjoy my meal. Please know that I did however I had higher expectations considering other JG dining experiences as well as Bruni's 3 star review.

Edited January 2, 2007 by bgut1 (log)