Fine Dining Alone in NYC: Your Best Picks

[MarkIsCooking]

From time to time, I'm in NYC for a night or 2, usually dining alone. I'm always up for trying new places and open to just about any cuisine.

What places do YOU recommend for dining alone? I'm thinking this would tend to be places with bars that will serve from the full menu at the bar.

Ideas? Suggestions? Your BEST picks??

Also, particularly interesting in Midtown since I almost always see a show after an early dinner.

Thanks!!!

-Mark-

[sethd]

The Bar at Jean Georges. You can also eat from the menu at the bar at Le Bernardin.

[ulterior epicure]

The Bar at Jean Georges. You can also eat from the menu at the bar at Le Bernardin.

Where is the bar in Jean Georges? Do you mean Nougatine? Or, is the bar in Nougatine considered a part of Jean Georges, the restaurant, proper?

[BryanZ]

There is no bar in JG proper. Nougatine has a bar space and usually will not serve the dining room offerings there. I've seen people ask to do so and they have been refused. I've also heard of exceptions being made for, like, celebrities.

The general consensus on threads like this (and Bruni noted this in a BruniBlog entry) is that dining alone at a table, especially if you're a guy, isn't really a big deal. Any good restaurant will do their absolute best to make you feel comfortable. Just pick places you think you'll enjoy and go from there. To me, fine dining alone is not (and should not be) fundamentally different than dining with others.

[ulterior epicure]

The general consensus on threads like this (and Bruni noted this in a BruniBlog entry) is that dining alone at a table, especially if you're a guy, isn't really a big deal.  Any good restaurant will do their absolute best to make you feel comfortable.  Just pick places you think you'll enjoy and go from there.  To me, fine dining alone is not (and should not be) fundamentally different than dining with others.

I'll echo Bryan on this one. As one who often (more often than not) dines alone, I actually have (pleasantly) found no difference in service, quality or availability of reservations between dining solo and dining with another. The only drawback I can see, are at places which might be more conducive to sharing - a la family style, like Craft (from what I've heard) or at a tapas place. If you're going the tasting menu route, the portions are already geared for one anyway.

[Edited for grammar]

Edited February 25, 2007 by ulterior epicure (log)

[MarkIsCooking]

I didn't mean to suggest that the service or quality would be different for 1 vs 2 or more. At better restaurants, I think they are quite professional and the number doesn't affect them.

I've dined alone, but just don't prefer it and so I tend to eat lesser food when I'm alone. If I do grab a bar seat at a better restaurant, usually the bar tender will chat a little.

Thanks for the input and do I hope some will suggest some better dine-at-bar options. I didn't realize Le Bernardin had a bar, but it's been years since I was there.

[ned]

Picholine

Sushi Yasuda

[Nathan]

skip Nougatine.

Robuchon

Perry Street

WD-50

Babbo (alas, no tasting menu for the solo diner)

Casa Mono

Esca

Balthazar

Morandi

Schiller's

Bar Room at the Modern

Lupa

Otto

Gramercy Tavern (front room)

Union Square Cafe

Yasuda

Gotham Bar & Grill

Momofoku Ssam Bar

you used to be able to get the tasting menu at the bar at EMP...but, alas, no more

(catch a theme here? Batali and McNally places are very bar-dining friendly)

I have not eaten at Picholine or Cafe Gray...but I've heard great things about solo dining there.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[SusanGiff]

The bar at Daniel, according to my husband, who's done it.

[Fat Guy]

I think there are a few categories of places that offer bar dining.

First, there are the places where you can get food at the bar but it's a different level of food than is served in the main restaurant. The Nougatine bar is a good example of this, as are the bars at Gramercy Tavern, Tabla and the Modern. It's not that this is undesirable as such -- plenty of people like the second-room food better at a lot of places -- however it's something to be aware of. I'm pretty sure Daniel has a separate bar menu, though I've heard of people getting dining-room food in the bar/salon area.

Second, there are the places where you can get the same food at the bar as in the main restaurant, but with some restrictions. Eleven Madison Park and Babbo would fall into this category, because you can get most of the offerings but not the tasting menu at the bar.

Of course in both of the above cases, sometimes exceptions are made, especially if you're a regular or the restaurant isn't busy. But you can't bet on it happening.

Third, there are the restaurants that give you the full experience at the bar. Union Square Cafe is a good example, as is Picholine.

Finally, there are the restaurants where dining at the bar, especially alone, is actually the peak experience that restaurant has to offer. Nearly every place with a sushi bar, from Yasuda to Nobu to your neighborhood joint, falls into that category. Also in that category, Atelier, where those who don't dine at the bar have reported regrets. And I happen to think the bar experience at Gotham Bar & Grill is particularly special -- they really blazed this trail. I would choose the bar over the dining room at Gotham almost every time.

One thing to bear in mind, as we've been reminded recently, is that holidays and other peak times are the worst times for solo diners. Real or imagined, restaurant staff get into a certain mindset on Mother's Day, or at 8pm on Friday night -- they see it as the time when they're going to make the serious money. Solo diners pretty much always do better at off-peak times. Also, at peak times the bar is often crowded with people drinking and waiting for tables, so the bar dining experience can be especially unpleasant -- not only because of the population density but also because the bartenders are going to be occupied.

[Nathan]

good post.

there are also places, like the Spotted Pig or Craftsteak, that offer both a "bar menu" and a regular menu at the bar...I imagine that the former is especially aimed at diners waiting for a table.

[Megan Blocker]

Degustation. Have a chat with Chloe, enjoy the food and the experience, ask the cooks about what they're making...

[ahr]

I've had several excellent dinners at the bar at Tocqueville. There's a small bar menu, but the full restaurant menu and wine list are also available both at the bar itself and a few small banquette tables in the bar area.

[Sneakeater]

I'd add that I much prefer the bar (or "brasserie", as they call it) at Cafe Gray to the dining room.

There's a new bar menu. But you can also order off the main menu at the bar there.

[ned]

I've had several excellent dinners at the bar at Tocqueville.  There's a small bar menu, but the full restaurant menu and wine list are also available both at the bar itself and a few small banquette tables in the bar area.

←

I second Tocqueville. What a great restaurant.

A few words on Babbo, only because I really want to love it there. I'm curious to hear others chime in on this and am open to bullshit being called by those with more experience. I know it's a gullet favorite.

The bar area at Babbo is also the waiting area. It is small rammed with people and you usually have to wait for a seat there. The older bald fellow who is the so-called gatekeeper isn't the most pleasant guy to deal with (gives me the impression he couldn't give a damn whether I stay and eat or walk right out the door although I put money on him preferring the latter) and he's consistently either disingenuous about or out of control of the wait times for walk ins. Even when you do eventually get a seat half an hour after he said you would you're likely to get a few elbows thrown at you by large men who watch the food network and usually eat their pasta out of a can but LOOOOOVE Mario and seem to have had quite a few bourbons already. In terms of the food, (and this I think was backed up by Bill Buford in "Heat") the menu reads great and sometimes the execution hits the mark but more often than not the kitchen is struggling to keep up with the dining room and the food suffers for it.

If I could regularly dine at Babbo as a VIP I'd do it, maybe but solo at the bar still there's be the problem of the corral-er-moshpit-er-bar area.

[Sneakeater]

You need to give your name to the bartender after you get cleared by the bald guy.

[Nathan]

always tell the bartender ato Babbo that you're waiting for a seat at the bar...not the maitre'd'

[sharding]

It's been about a year since the last post in this topic, so I thought I'd check in to see if there are any updates. I'm coming to NYC next month, and I'm looking for ideas about places I should try to eat. Most of my time is going to be consumed by the conference I'm attending, so I probably will only have a couple of free nights to go off and dine some place of my choice. I'll be alone (thus my posting in this topic), and price isn't much of an object, but reservation availability may be (for some places, I imagine it's already too late, and my schedule isn't solidified enough for me to make reservations today).

All that said, any recommendations beyond those already mentioned here?

[Sneakeater]

Just to note that when you eat alone at the bar, not only don't you HAVE TO make reservations, but you CAN'T make reservations. (This doesn't apply to Atelier Robuchon or sushi bars.)

Edited February 25, 2008 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Anyway, I think Grayz is an underrated gem that is perfect for solo dining.

[sharding]

Just to note that when you eat alone at the bar, not only don't you HATE TO make reservations, but you CAN'T make reservations.  (This doesn't apply to Atelier Robuchon or sushi bars.)

←

Yeah, but some of the places I've looked at either don't have bars, or don't serve the same menu at the bar, so in those cases it might be an issue.

Will most fine dining restaurants even take reservations for a single diner? I haven't tried, so I don't know how it would be received. I don't have many personal hangups about eating alone at a table in a nice place (in fact, I'd prefer it over the bar in most cases, even if the bar does have the same menu), but my gut tells me the restaurant may not want to encourage it...

[tupac17616]

Will most fine dining restaurants even take reservations for a single diner?

Certainly. And you'll be treated just fine.

[BryanZ]

My roommate is planning a solo spring break trip to NYC right now. Just today I've overheard him make reservations for one at Tailor, Tabla, EMP, Balthazar, Jean-Georges, and Maze. In no way was he discouraged by the reservationists. Better to eat a nicer restaurant alone and perhaps be a bit more conspicuous than go somewhere not as good where you'll just blend in.

Edited February 25, 2008 by BryanZ (log)

[nikkib]

My roommate is planning a solo spring break trip to NYC right now.  Just today I've overheard him make reservations for one at Tailor, Tabla, EMP, Balthazar, Jean-Georges, and Maze.  In no way was he discouraged by the reservationists.  Better to eat a nicer restaurant alone and perhaps be a bit more conspicuous than go somewhere not as good where you'll just blend in.

←

I've eaten alone at WD50 - ask for a table by the open kitchen instead of the bar and also in the "bar room" at Cafe Gray and was very well treated at both

[Nathan]

well, I always prefer the bar but I've never had a problem with solo reservations when I had to make them.

other than the four-stars, I really can't think of any restaurants that don't serve at the bar...and usually the full menu too.