Per Se really is THAT good

[Spiritchaser]

Okay, first thing on my menu should have been CROW because that's what I deserve to eat.

I have been a longggg hold out for going to Per Se because I was getting sick of reading all the love so I figured it had to be more sizzle than steak but at my GFs insistence/recommendation we chose Per Se for a significant anniversary. It was spectacular.

I won't bore anyone with yet one more lenghty review (which would be required in order to sing enough praise for Per Se) but suffice it to say I am a convert and believer. The service was so smooth, very engaging without ever being intrusive. The wine recommendations were perfect. And the food, in a word, WOW. It took one taste of the signature dish to know I was so wrong about this place (shame on me for waitng so long).

Cannot wait to get back.

[c oliver]

I don't doubt that it's mind bogglingly good but spending in the neighborhood of $1000 for a dinner for 2 just stops me in my tracks. I can buy furniture, art, roundtrip international airplane tickets and the like for that kind of money. Or a number of really, really great meals for that amount. I periodically read the reviews of dinners and drool but I can't do it. Just can't.

[small h]

As hcbk0702 points out below, you can enjoy a wonderful meal in the Salon for well under $1000. My spousal equivalent and I did just this for our own significant anniversary. We each had an appetizer and an entree and a couple of drinks, and we split a dessert and the cheese course. With the three amuses, we walked out stuffed to the gills (and thrilled with the meal), for about $300, all in.

[hcbk0702]

That astonishing bread basket with Animal Farm butter doesn't hurt either. Per Se still has the best bread service in NYC and seems unlikely to relinquish that title.

[small h]

Pretzels, pretzels, pretzels. I could've eaten 50 of them. This:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/...

is satire, but it's also true!

[c oliver]

Thanks SO much for sharing your experience. THAT I can justify.

[small h]

You're welcome! Get on over there. Sure, you can get a sofa for $300, but it will be an ugly sofa, and a beautiful meal beats an ugly sofa any day of the week.

[kelea]

Thanks for the affirmation. I've place Per Se on a fictitious pedestal as the one place I have to eat before I leave NYC. And i'm leaving in a year so now it's my "My finally leaving NYC celebration meal". I can't wait

[Spiritchaser]

I can't think of a more fitting send off. And if things change and you stay in NYC you can use it as your, "Hooray I get to stay" dinner.

[ellenost]

No need to eat "crow". Glad to hear that you are a "convert"--better late than never.

[Spiritchaser]

Thanks, and I agree about better late than never. My GF is a genius!

[hcbk0702]

"Cannot wait to get back."

Their Salon is a great option if you'd like to have just a few dishes for a lighter meal. The gougères, salmon cornets, soup amuse-bouche, mignardises, sparkling water, coffee/tea, and even the take-away gift (usually some sort of pastry item) are all included; surprisingly, the foie gras dish is $40 a la carte, exactly the same as the foie supplement charge on the $275 tasting. It's a good value, at least comparatively!

[ESNY]

I finally made it there a few months ago and agree the food is spectacular as was the service.

As to whether it was worth the considerable additional cost than other "comparable" (i say that knowing nothing is truly comparable but am referring to the other top restaurants in NY)... I personally don't believe so.

[mik145]

I recently had my 30th birthday dinner there in a private room and it was one of the nicest experiences of my life. having eaten there before i was used to the service that is as close to perfect as one can imagine but they managed a table of 10 and 17 bottles of wine over 5 hours like no other establishment i"ve ever dined at. certainly it can be cost prohibitive and i wouldnt imagine eating there every month but once or twice a year i find it restores ones faith in true fine dining. especially if you dine out often in nyc, where the last few years have seen so many establishments moving in a more casual burger/charcuterie direction. I enjoy Prime Meats, bar boloud, and the like all the time but its nice to remember a different time in New york and dine formally on exotic and labor intensive dishes, wearing a jacket and tie and not sitting next to some hipster in jeans, a pork pie hat and some ironic t shirt asking if the burger was raised in a community farm in bed-stuy.

[Bobster427]

I'm glad you had a great time. I'm going back in a month!!