need to impress clients from San Fran

[fein]

My friend from SF is sending clients to NYC for a few days on business. They are trendy, fashionable, minor celebrity guys in their 30's. They will be working in Tribeca and staying in the W 50's. I need a few good suggestions on places for them to eat while in town. I have a few dinner ideas but need some suggestions on coffee/breakfast and lunch. They want to feel the NY vibe but low key/traditional places are welcome as well. As for budget they are flexible. I'm sure they will spend money at times and also just want to grab a sandwich. Thanks.

Here some ideas I had. Feel free to comment or make other suggestions.

Buddakan
Quality Meats
Del Posto
Allen & Delancy
Ippudo
Momofuku
Sushi Azabu
Spotted Pig
Empire Hotel

[steve h.]

sushi is not a san francisco strength. sushi yasuda, at the bar, would be a winner.

outside of tadich grill and a small handful of other places, most restaurants in san francisco are pretty new. take the team to keens for excellent porterhouse and the best single malt selection in the city. ms. keens will throw in the history for free. bonus points if you take a private room upstairs.

babbo for italian, just to stoke the fires of debate, would be an excellent choice.

san francisco has no counterpart to le bernardin. dinner there would be exceptional.

san francisco is one of my favorite places but getting a great restaurant with a view is mission impossible. walk the herd over the brooklyn bridge to the river cafe. see what they're made of.

booze. san francisco has a ton of very good bars and savvy mixologists. craft beers are plentiful and diverse. maybe grab a drink at the king cole bar before heading out to a more lively place.

lots more but you get the idea.

[foodwhisperer]

san francisco has great food. Theres a place called French Laundry there for one. Kaygetsu, several great Napa restaurants not far away. Maybe Buddakan would be a good choice here for something cool and different. Then go to the Gaansvoort roof for drinks

[intrepid]

food at buddakan is ok, but the place is way far from cool imho

[foodwhisperer]

IMHO food is good at buddakan, reasonably priced,, the 12 million dollar renovation is worth checking out ,,and people from out of town would enjoy a huge place like that

[rmw102176]

Lots of verbose answers...wow. If foodies, then Little Owl, The Orchard, Spotted Pig, Apizz. If only scene matters, then Stanton Social, Morandi (owners of Balthazar and Pastis, but fresher scened and hood), Spice Market If they want both, then hands down Allen and Delancey, FREEMANS and inoteca...amazing locale and decor, cozy, delicious food and a cool, diverse crowd...see a celebrity every time I eat there.

Forget anything by Jean Georges (except spicemarket), Daniel, etc. Mostly older crowds and food that can be found in any fine city such as SF.

Then head to Smith and Mill in Tribeca. Tiny bar in old coach house with perfect cocktail menu and chic, sexy, but tiny crowd.

[eameyer]

I would stay away from Degustation as it is not a place for large groups. I'd add STK to the list and 2nd the recs for Balthazar and Pastis. Delicatessen or Cafeteria may also be fun, trendy casual lunch spots.

[egit]

All of the previous commenters have good idea. One thought I have though... since they're from San Francisco, they probably have better asian food there than we do here. That's not necessarily across the board, but they probably have better chinese and sushi... or at least as good.

You may be better off with places are non-asian, if they're foodies and you want to impress.

[kobetobiko]

- I think you can substitute Quality Meats with Keens (if they want old-school NY) or Craftsteaks (if they want trendy steakhouse like CUT in LA)
- Replace Allen & Delancy with Gordon Ramsay or even Maze (also GR's, but cheaper and more causal). A&D's chef just left and have had really bad reviews from recent diners.
- Replace Sushi Azabu with Yasuda (if you want the best sushi in minimal decor) or 15 East (more elegant and modern decor, top-notch sushi)
- Warning: Del Posto is grand but it is expensive because portion size is small and so you need to order a lot to fill up
- I think you should add Jean Georges to the list.

[foodwhisperer]

I go with all of Kobetobiko's suggestions, except I think they would probably like sushi gari better than Azabu as its different than whats in SF. But Greenwich Grill upstairs from Azabu is excellent and a little different a god choice. I would certainly add Buddakan, Kittichai, Shang,,, the bar in the Thompson Hotel is awesome. Kyo Ya would be a good experience as well for kaiseki style japanese. For steak take a ride to Peter Luger or being that they are in Tribeca go to Wolfgang. For a cup of coffee and Ceci Cela croissant go to Pecan in Tribeca. Or Bouley bakery,,, Boulez upstairs in tribeca open for dinner is a cool small casual place and theres always celebreties there . Bond St. for sushi is a "hip" place. The mussels at Sptizers are great. Katz;s Deli gotta be thrown in,,,,,Degustation is excellent and my friends for SF loved it. Lunch at Odeon is always good and its in Tribeca. Ago in the new hotel in Tribeca is worth a try I believe the new chef started he is from Jean Georges. If they just want a good burger in Tribeca at a bar/restaurant Walker's works. Soup to go at Colombine is great they have good sandwiches also. Tribeca grill is good big place and its owned by a celeb. Da Silvano is a good celeb good italian in the village.. Balthazar in Soho good lunch place or Pastis. Dim Sum for lunch at Golden Unicorn not far from Tribeca. Jean Georges for a great dinner. Gigino or Roc , Scalini Fedeli Italian Lunch or dinner in Tribeca. oh yeah Nobu or next door to Nobu

[misnatalie]

I wouldn't discount Buddakan especially if the clients are non foodies looking for trendy atmosphere. Sushi Yasuda is amazing and Keens is a great old ny steakhouse, Strip House steakhouse has fun strip club feel.

[intrepid]

buddakan forget, quality meats forget

the others are aok, add megu, piccola venezia in queens, hispaniola washignton heights, and a ton of places on the LES, and queens

[LeahBaila]

Peter Luger, Babbo

www.thelunchbelle.com