Special evening - please help plan
Hi,
We live in NYC and eat out all the time (at moderately prized places) but want to do something different this Sunday for our anniversary.
1) Drinks - Asiate bar / king_cole_bar_lounge (St.Regis) or ??
2) Dinner - Corton / Somewhere with good food and nice ambience and good service
3) Live music (like piano bar) but might skip this.
help!
S
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I don't mean to scold, but you are talking about this coming Sunday the 10th? You need to do this, soon-have you checked opentable.com to see what's available?
A quick look shows me Jean Georges (a good match with drinks at Asiate), Adour, Cafe Boulud, Bouley (I've had service issues there, but only at lunch), Eleven Madison....Another classy drink option is Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle.
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LeahBaila
May 7, 2009 12:41 PM
For drinks, my vote goes to the Lobby Lounge at the Mandarin.
For dinner; have you been to Bouley post move? The new space is quite outstanding, and you can't beat the service. Food wise, I'm more of a meat and potatoes kind of girl, but I do appreciate Bouley's French cuisine.
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re: LeahBaila
"...you can't beat the service..."
We have never been to Bouley, but a close friend of ours had dinner there recently and told us that service was very far from perfect. And there have been posts on this board about serious service issues. So, I'd say there are many restaurants, including per se, Jean Georges, EMP, The Modern, etc., that beat Bouley by providing *dependably* faultless service.
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re: RGR
LeahBaila
May 7, 2009 12:54 PM
Well, I HAVE BEEN to Bouley, and the service was excellent. So, until you've been yourself, it's probably best not to judge.
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re: LeahBaila
I realize you have been to Bouley and did not have any service issues. But even if I have not been there myself, I trust the report from a close friend who experienced *serious* service problems there. And as I mentioned, there have been reports on this board re: service issues. So, imo, these are facts which suetibu should consider when making her decision.
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re: suetibu
I don't have anything nice to say about David Burke & Donatella... is that now "Townhouse"? I stopped keeping track when I found out that Donatella was not Donatella Versace, and I could not get Versace Champagne Pockets there.
Nothing nice to say because I did not enjoy the food. I don't remember much except some lobster that was reconstructed and sort of standing up very high on my plate with the feelers sticking up. It was sort of candied and sweet if I recall.
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re: suetibu
David Burke Townhouse was worse than gimmicky. Four of us went there last night for our first and only time.
1)They called the day before our reservation to change the time from 8 to 8:30 because they were hosting a cocktail party and the restaurant wouldn't be ready by 8.
2} The service was lackluster and inattentive. We were there over 3 hours for a three course meal. It took an hour from the time we ordered dessert until we received the check. The staff was clustered by the bar, joking with each other and didn't notice when the four of us left.
Exhaustion shouldn't be the primary emotion upon departing a restaurant (To clarify, a 3 hour meal at Per Se or Jean Georges is reasonable and delightful, the Townhouse isn't in the same ballpark)
3) fifteen minutes after ordering the wine, the sommelier returned to say they were out of our choice
4) Most important, the food was mediocre. The amuse bouche served in an eggshell was delicious and then it was all downhill. The dover sole was cooked until it was rigid and rubbery as were the accompanying gnocchi (all 2 of them). The caramel cube tasted like sugar overload, no hint of caramel and it had clearly come straight from the refrigerator; the apple tart was tough and tired around the edges.
Life is too short for bad meals
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Corton is not open on Sunday.
If you do drinks in the bar room at the St. Regis, you might want to consider having dinner right there at Adour Alain Ducasse. Superb cuisine, excellent service, and lovely ambiance. The restaurant has several spaces, so be sure to request a table in the main dining room.
Veritas is another great option. Exquisite French cuisine, extraordinary wine list, professional service, and wonderful atmospherics. We don't do lounges or bars for drinks, but I recall recs on this board for the Flatiron Lounge, which is in the area where Veritas is located.
Happy Anniversary and Bon Appetit!
