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Hal Jespersen’s New York City Restaurant Travelogue

Update: Hal has returned to New York for his first business trip since leaving Sun!. So some new reviews will start to enter this list.

This is a travelogue of restaurants visited in NYC, written during the year (2004-05) that Hal was in Sun Microsystems' Wall Street Initiative team. It was originally an internal Sun Wiki document, so there are various artifacts in the text, such as directions from Sun's midtown office (101 Park Avenue at 40th Street) or the nearby Grand Hyatt hotel.

Hal's rating system here uses Poor, OK, Pretty Good, Very Good, and Excellent (1-5 asterisks). And a general idea of the price is represented by 1-3 dollar-signs, meaning a bargain (under $50/person with a couple of glasses of wine), moderate-to-high for a business meal ($50-99/person), and breathtaking (over $100/person). Before you short Sun's stock after seeing what employees pay for meals on the road, be assured that Hal needed to subsidize Sun's reimbursement generously in some of these places.

Contents

Flatiron District

One of Hal's favorite restaurant districts is Flatiron, around East 22nd Street. It's either an easy 20-block walk from Grand Central in good weather, or an even easier subway ride: Take a local 6 train from Grand Central 3 stops to the 23rd St station, and when you exit at 22nd St, you are less than one block from Bolo, Tamarind, and Beppe, all described below. (Rocco's 22nd Street, of TV The Restaurant fame, has gone out of business.) Only a couple of more blocks to Gramercy Tavern, Morrells, Veritas, Tabla, and Fleur de Sel. So Flatiron is a good bet for a last-minute drop-in without reservations area, particularly the E 22nd restaurants.

Asia de Cuba * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal April 2005 (second visit).

237 Madison Ave, near 37th St, about 5 blocks from Grand Central. website

Asia de Cuba is one of a small chain of restaurants that specializes in the fusion of Asian and Latin cuisines. Hal has also visited the San Francisco branch and found the New York version to be superior. Although the food here is excellent, the real draw of Asia de Cuba is the trendy decor and the hip ambiance. Tables are crowded in and lots of beautiful people drift by. The walls are covered by billowy white gauze, illuminated from behind with soft pink light. (Illuminated is an overstatement and it's difficult for middle-aged eyes to read the menu.) One main dining area is a balcony overlooking a long table on the lower floor. Mambo Kings-type salsa music is playing, which is a subtle indication that the fusion is not 50-50; Latin spices and sensibilities prevail, despite having chopsticks on the table.

A key here is to believe the waiter when he says the family-style portions are large. For a party of two, two appetizers and one entree is more than enough. Hal's table had a tuna tartare appetizer layered like a Napoleon on taco chips, a Thai beef salad with spicy carpaccio-style beef slices, and a half chicken in Cuban spices. Delicious.

The winelist is a good match for the modestly spicy cuisine, with more Latin American wines than most NYC places. Good selection by the glass, fairly priced. Of course, they also have a lengthy cocktail list, including the mandatory Mojito.

Hal rates Asia de Cuba as Very Good. Not suitable for a business dinner, however.

Aureole * * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal in August 2004.

34 E 61st St, between Madison and Park, about 20 blocks from Grand Central. website

Aureole is Charlie Palmer's flagship restaurant; he has others in Las Vegas and Healdsburg. Hal rates this as Excellent, although it is quite expensive for the 3 of us — with 1 bottle of wine, about $450. Jackets are required for men.

The menu is 3-course prix fixe. Food is superb, very innovative and flavorful. Service excellent. Winelist excellent, with lots of good New World choices (unlike a lot of high-end NYC places). The winelist is actually a tablet computer running Netscape, which is cool in theory, but not as efficient for the reader as a printed list. (And it's not wireless-networked, so there's no connection to the restaurant's order-entry system.)

Avra Estiatorio * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 9/8/04.

141 E 48th St, near Lexington, 6 blocks from Grand Central. website

Avra Estiatorio is a Greek seafood restaurant that Hal would rate as only Pretty Good. Their speciality is whole fish, sold by the pound, charcoal-grilled, nicely boned, and very tasty. The problem is that it's relatively expensive for what you get, approximately $90/pp.

Decent winelist, fairly priced, but don't trust the waiter's recommendation for the Greek wines. We had a Sauvignon Blanc from Santorini and it was barely in the "picnic wine" category, surprisingly thin for a warm climate.

Service was OK, not stellar. Seating inside the restaurant was pretty crowded and noisy. The outside seating is nice, weather permitting.

Babbo * * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 12/8/04.

110 Waverly Pl, just west of Washington Sq. Take the 6 Local downtown from Grand Central to Astor Place. Walk west about 1/4 mile. website

Babbo is celebrity chef Mario Batali's flagship restaurant in Greenwich Village. It's a cozy, small place in an old brownstone, spread over two floors. Reservations are hard to come by, so Hal arrived at opening time, 5:30, to nab a seat at the bar. (This was a decent experience, because the bartenders were also expert waiters and the bar patrons were friendly and talkative.)

Batali specializes in interpreting his ancestral Italian cuisine using innovative techniques and fine local, seasonal ingredients. Hal had a really interesting plate of homemade salami (6 varieties, including sheep fat) with marinated cipolle onions, and a menu special, bollito misto, which was exceptionally flavorful.

Things are mostly a la carte, in the traditional Italian style, but there is also a White Truffle tasting menu (for $250/pp, which Hal did not try).

The winelist was 100% Italian and simply stupendous. Some very good values were available, as well as all the really big wines, in many, many vintages. There were a dozen wines served in quartino, which means a 250ml carafe, and these were reasonable and well selected.

Hal rates Babbo as Excellent. Because of its location and reservation difficulty, Babbo is probably not the best choice for a large business dinner, but two at the bar would be a nice diversion.

Bellavitae * * * $

Visited by Hal 10/05.

24 Minetta Lane, off 6th Avenue just north of Bleecker St. Take the A, C, or E train from Times Square to 4th St and walk south a couple of blocks. website

Bellavitae is a modest, but attractive and friendly, Greenwich Village place near Washington Square. It specializes in what they call "small plates," perhaps trying to cash in on the success of Spanish tapas. A couple of anomalies, though: the plates aren't very small and there are other dishes that don't even pretend to be small. Hal had two small plates and it was fully adequate to fill him up: proscuitto and mozarella (quite plain, but simple and delicious) and then a baked disc of mozarella with pancetta around the edge, seasoned with oil and spicy crushed pepper flakes. Superb flavors on the latter, tempting one to order another. They're small, after all. :-) The rest of the menu was a small selection of pastas, fish, and meat courses.

The winelist was small, but it had an excellent selection of relatively unusual Italian regional wines, with about 15 by the glass or in quartino, all at pretty fair prices. The Nero d'Avola is a good choice if you have shied away from Sicilian wines before this. (When Hal was a young winedrinker, Sicilian wines were very rare in the U.S. and good riddance. But that has changed dramatically.)

Service was competent and very friendly. The place is relatively small and a bit noisy, but in an upscale, friendly neighborhood way. Hal rates the place Pretty Good and a better value than many places on this page.

Beppe * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 10/20/04.

45 E 22nd St, between Broadway and Park Ave S. See directions above in Flatiron District. website

Beppe is a popular Tuscan style restaurant in the Flatiron District and if you didn't just get off the subway, you'd think you were in California, which is a stylistic comment, not a dig. It's casual, with bare brick walls decorated by large B&W photos of happy Italians eating.

The food was excellent. Hal had a delicious sausage appetizer, made from pigs on the chef's farm, supposedly, charcoal-grilled with beans, and a monkfish wrapped in prosciutto on spinach. Buono! The menu seems very much like one you'd find in an older restaurant in Firenze.

The winelist was rather modest, but 100% Italian and very fairly priced. (The Rosso di Montalcino is a good choice by the glass, as is La Vite Lucente.) Service was fine.

Hal rates this Very Good. A little loud, but friendly and a decent choice for a business dinner.

BLT Steak * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 10/18/04.

106 E 57th St between Park and Lexington, about 15 blocks from Grand Central. website

BLT Steak is not a place for a bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich, but is named for "Bistro Laurent Tourondel." It is described as a cross between a French bistro and a NY steakhouse, but it is difficult to recognize either influence directly. The decor and ambience are modern and loud and make no efforts at evoking, say, a Parisian bistro. About the only things bistro-like are a large winelist posted on the wall and a relatively small menu. And, it's not beholden to the gigantic meat emphasis of a true NY steakhouse.

The reservation system isn't too reliable. Hal had to wait 40 minutes for his reserved seat. People in similar straits were camped out in the small bar, eating from the full menu. But once seated, the food and service were excellent. The menu had a variety of steaks, as well as a number of other carnivore choices, but the true test of a steakhouse is the New York strip, which here is $42 a la carte! In a supposed French style, there was a choice of a 7 sauces, which made Hal suspicious, but they came on the side and the meat was excellent without the sauce.

The winelist was quite good, although very expensive. Hal found a rare 2001 Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, which was superb.

Hal would rate this Excellent for food, service, and wine, but it drops to Very Good because of the prices and the reservation glitch. A recent Esquire magazine article cited BLT as one of the 22 hottest new restaurants.

Bolo * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 10/19/04.

23 E 22nd St, between Broadway and Park Ave, about 20 blocks from Grand Central. See the description of Flatiron restaurants for subway directions. website

Bolo is a casual Spanish-style restaurant in the Flatiron District, owned by the famous Bobby Flay, who is principally known for Southwestern US cuisine. But he makes a good foray into the land of tapas. The tapas are offered as a first course or at the bar, choice of 4 for $16, and all Hal chose were quite delicious. The rest of the menu is Spanish "style," atypical of the choices you've find in, say, Barcelona. There was one paella on the menu, for example. Hal had rabbit wrapped in jambon on a bed of risotto.

The winelist had a great selection of Spanish wines, mostly reasonable. (There were a few vintages of Vega Sicilia Unico for about one half the fare of some of the other restaurants on this page.) California also was well represented. Decor was typical NYC-neighborhood casual with nice painted design elements. Service was good.

Hal rates this as Very Good and suitable for business dinners.

Bouley * * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 10/25/04.

120 W Broadway at Duane St. From Grand Central, take the Shuttle to Times Square and transfer to the 1 Express subway line downtown to Chambers St. The restaurant is about 1.5 blocks from the station. Otherwise, it's about a $12 cab ride. website

Bouley is the Tribeca headquarters of chef David Bouley, also chef of Danube (which is Austrian cuisine). Bouley is a stylish, modern French place, which Hal rates as Excellent, although very expensive. The decor is striking, with rich red walls and banquets festooned with colorful pillows. In the entrance vestibule, a large wine rack lines the wall from floor to ceiling, but it is filled with fresh fruit—apples, mostly—which gives off a delightful, subtle scent.

The highlight of the menu was the 6-course tasting menu, with 3 or so choices for each course. A la carte was also available, but the prix fixe was a better value if you add up the prices. The winelist was excellent, with strength in French, Californian, Austrian, German, and some Australian and Italian. But the tasting menu was offered with glasses of wine paired to each selection; the choices were innovative, the sommelier friendly and informative.

The food was excellent, with delicate flavors, nice portion sizes for the multiple courses, and interesting touches like foamed sauces. (With dessert, an extra plate arrived with foamed, calcified white chocolate. Little extras were included throughout the meal.) Service was excellent as well. Great place for a lengthy business meal if the customer's big enough to justify $150-200/person and 2-3 hours for dinner. By the way, lunch at Bouley is supposed to be much less expensive.

Brasserie * * * $ $

Visited by Hal and the big SDAC crowd 10/24/04.

100 E 53rd St between Lexington and Park, 11 blocks from Grand Central. website

Brasserie is a place, selected based on a Zagat recommendation, that offers the food styles of a typical Parisian brasserie with dramatically different decor—like 1980s World's Fair (or 2001 Space Odyssey) modern, with lots of bare metal surfaces; translucent, glowing stairs; vast translucent bar area backlighted with hundreds of bottles appearing to float behind it. Zagat implied that we'd see lots of stylish models strutting in, but the place was pretty empty considering it was a Sunday night. We did see a guy who looked suspiciously familiar as a pro basketball player, but there was no entourage of groupies, so perhaps he wasn't.

A good deal are the Plateaux de Fruits de Mer, which are enormous collections of shellfish and crustaceans on giant trays of crushed ice. The $88 version easily satisfied 8 people and sufficed as a full meal for some of the folks. The rest of the menu was all typical brasserie fare, like steak frites, bouillabaisse, etc. Hal had a very nice confit of duck, others shared ribeye steaks, which were enormous portions. The plate of pommes frites ordered by Donna could clog enough arteries to fill a hospital wing.

The winelist was decent, leaning mostly French with a lot of regional variety and fair prices. The service was mediocre. There were complaints about speed and Hal was unhappy with sediment allowed to slosh into the red wine glasses because it wasn't decanted properly.

The Brasserie is a good value for midtown. Hal rates it as Good, knocked down a rung for its service deficiencies.

The Campbell Apartment (bar) * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 11/8/04.

Grand Central Terminal on the west side (Vanderbilt Ave entrance). website

The Campbell Apartment is a really cool bar, formerly the private office and salon of 1920's tycoon, John W. Campbell. If you have ever visited Hearst Castle, you will recognize the style of decor. This is a nice place for a drink after the commute crowds disperse, about 8:00. There aren't many seats and the drinks are pricey (about $12 for a cocktail), but the ambiance is great and they play background vocals from the 30s and 40s, such as Ella Fitzgerald.

Overall Hal rates this as Good, a classy place to finish an evening with a customer.

Della Rovere * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal April 2005.

250 West Broadway in Tribeca, at Beach St. Three subway lines come close to this. Hal took the 6 local to Canal St and walked a few blocks to W Broadway, then a couple south. (Canal St is the closest thing to a Middle Eastern bazaar you're going to find. Worth a stroll.) NYT review

Della Rovere is a new restaurant in the Tribeca district that serves rustic, regional Italian cuisine. The menu is rather small, but there are interesting choices and the food was excellent. Hal had grilled sardines on toast with a poached egg and then risotto with peas, a small fried pancetta disk, and three tiny fried quail eggs. Pasta courses come either small or large, depending on whether you want to order a meat or fish (secondo) course. There was a huge cheese menu for appetizers, as well as a few raw fish dishes. An unusual touch was the bread service: tiny baguettes that come with a plate divided in half by a wall of salt, with oil and hot pepper flakes on one side, balsamic vinegar on the other. Of course, the salt wall dissolves quickly and the flavors mix.

The winelist had a number of excellent choices from Italy, Spain, the US, and Australia. More than half of them were offered by the glass and in quartino portions, the latter a better value. The sommelier was well informed and had good descriptive skills. Hal offered him great leeway in selecting a red wine, but gave an example (an unusual Monferrato Rosso) of one to show he wasn't a shlep; the guy proceeded to pitch that same wine as complementary to the risotto. Which means Hal is prescient or the guy is a toadie.

The excitement of the night was Hal's first celebrity sighting since starting this Twiki: Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean, and party were at the next table, hosted by the restaurant's owner. Leona seemed pleasant enough and didn't fire anyone. A regular parade of staff came up during the meal to curry favor. (That normally happens in Indian restaurants, right?) The executive chef, Roberto Bellissimo, came out and negotiated a completely customized menu for them. (He didn't do that for Hal at the next table, needless to say.) Anyway, the sommelier selected that same Monferrato for one of their courses, so perhaps he really did like it.

All in all, a very nice experience with good food, wine, and service. Hal rates it as Very Good. A rather small place, but well suited for entertaining customers without breaking the bank.

Dylan Hotel (Breakfast) * * $ $

Visited by Hal 10/19/04.

52 E 41st St between Park and Madison.

Hal generally stays at the Grand Hyatt, but decided to try the Dylan, another Sun-recommended hotel.

[Note: As of April 2005, this restaurant is closed for remodeling.]

Hal rates breakfast at the Dylan restaurant (called Nyla) as only OK. The restaurant/bar is apparently a trendy one in the evening, but it doesn't translate well for breakfast. The room lighting is uneven. A bigscreen TV blares out CNN. Reading newspapers and conducting business are not accommodated well. Only a buffet is offered and it has a relatively small set of choices: fruit, pastries, coldcuts, cheese, scrambled eggs, pancakes, potatoes, sausages, and bacon. The food was decent, but not for the $23 price, which adds insult to injury by including a mandatory 18% "gratuity."

Felidia * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal April 2005.

243 E 58th St (between 2nd and 3rd Aves). An easy 20-block walk. website

Felidia is an old favorite of Hal's (multiple visits since the 1980s), a very upscale modern Northern Italian restaurant in the collection owned by TV chef Lidia Bastianich. It's a small place on multiple floors, nicely decorated, dress code dressier than some, tables nicely separated, with excellent service. The food is excellent, too, with innovative pasta courses in particular (try the Istrian wedding pillows filled with cheese and flavored with raisins and rum), but also interesting appetizers and meat/fish courses (Osso Bucco very good).

The winelist is very large and rather expensive, concentrating on all regions of Italy, but with the New World represented as well; by-the-glass selections are all somewhat obscure Italians, but interesting choices and fairly priced.

Hal rates this as Very Good. If the prices could be dipped a bit [fat chance!] it would tip to Excellent. Perfect restaurant for a high-end business dinner.

Fiamma Osteria * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 11/10/04.

206 Spring St (between 6th Ave & Sullivan St) in SoHo. Not walkable. Take the Shuttle from Grand Central to Time Sq and transfer to the 1 Local downtown to Houston St. One step South of Houston you are in SoHo. Walk south 4 more blocks on Varick, and 1 east on Spring. website

Fiamma Osteria is a stylish nuova Italian restaurant in SoHo, part of a chain called "B. R. Guest," which includes the famous Bluewater Grill. It's relatively small and oddly decorated, like one foot in the 50s, the other in the 80s.

The menu is rather small, the food excellent. There's a prix fixe menu for $74, wine pairing extra, and also a la carte at more moderate prices. Hal had an appetizer of 2 melted cheeses with white truffles and polenta, and Pescatrice, which is monkfish wrapped in prosciutto. Delizioso!

The winelist is very good, large and completely Italian. There are some reasonable values, but also the high ends at prices to match. About 20 interesting selections by the glass, although expensive. Service is excellent, expert and extremely attentive.

Hal rates this Very Good, knocked down one notch due to the very casual and odd decor. This would be a completely reasonable place for a business dinner, however, particularly due to the excellent service.

Fleur de Sel * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 9/20/04.

5 E 20th St, between 5th and Broadway, 22 blocks from Grand Central. website

Fleur de Sel is a French restaurant that different reviews cite as either having Normandy or Brittany influences. Hal put this to the test by asking for a Pommeau, which is the typical aperitif from those regions, apple cider with Calvados. Zut alors! Mademoiselle never heard of it. Well, that was the sole downside. The food was quite good, although the vegetarian options were limited. It's a very small neighborhood-style bistro, casual friendly service, modest Francophile winelist. On Monday night, they have a 1/2-price offer on different selections of wine. In September it was Bordeaux, Alsace, and Loire, so we had a '95 Carraudes de Lafite for only $60!

Hal rates this one Very Good.

Gramercy Tavern * * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 12/7/04 (a date that shall live in infamy).

42 E 20th St, between Broadway and Park Ave S. Take the 4 Express downtown from Grand Central to 14th St Union Square and walk 4 blocks to 20th. website

This Flatiron District restaurant is rated as the Most Popular in New York by the Zagat Survey. Normally reservations are hard to come by, but Hal snagged an 8pm cancelation and waltzed in. The tavern part in the front is a busy bar scene with a couple of dozen tables serving reasonable fare to the huddles masses who have no reservations. In the back, white tablecloths reign and two menus are offered: 3 courses for $72 or a 9-course tasting menu for $95. A fixed-price wine pairing isn't offered, but they are happy to serve half-glasses of appropriate wines with each course, so the total prices isn't predictable in advance. Despite the prices, the atmosphere is a good deal more casual than many formal New York citadels of cuisine. They suggest jackets for men, but many ignore this. The place has the feel of a rustic, neighborhood place.

The food is billed as American and is excellent: boldly flavorful but elegant, innovative, wonderful fresh and local ingredients, attractively served. The winelist is very good, smallish but with lots of innovative choices. Wines by the glass are well selected. The best part of the experience is the service, however. The waiter was super friendly, unpretentious, efficient, and extremely knowledgeable about the food and a wide range of wines. If you go for the tasting menu (recommended), the pleasant experience takes over 3 hours.

Hal rates the Gramercy as Excellent, although very expensive. This would be a perfect site for an influential customer dinner.

Hearth * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 8/3/04.

403 E 12th St at First Ave. This is in the East Village and is 10-minute cab ride, not a reasonable walk. review

Hal chose this one based on a NY Times article about restaurants with innovative wine pricing policies. Hearth has a large number of wines by the glass and has reasonable prices on seasonal wines and close-outs.

Hearth is a moderately trendy restaurant in the East Village mode. The food was modern American, perhaps with a hint of Italian influences. Food, atmosphere, and service were fine, but the attraction remains the wine policy. Hal rates it as Pretty Good.

L'Impero * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 8/23/04. Update: return visit 10/3/07.

45 Tudor City Pl. Walk 2.5 blocks east from Grand Central and ascend the staircase that leads to Tudor City Pl, which is an elevated street that crosses over 42nd. Alternatively, walk east on 43rd St, which connects directly without the stairs. website

L'Impero is a modern Italian restaurant located in the first floor of a 30s apartment building. Hal rates this one as Very Good. Innovative menu, lots of good fish dishes, but meat and pastas as well. Very flavorful. Excellent service. Very good wine list with lots of Italian, fairly priced. (Hal had a Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc, mostly for novelty value, but it was excellent.)

Hal returned in October 2007 with a business colleague. The place was not too busy on a Wednesday night, but it was an excellent experience. Great service, very good and inovative Italian food. The winelist is even more comprehensive than previously.

Mas * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 11/8/04.

39 Downing St near Bedford St. This is in Greenwich Village, so it isn't walkable. Take the Shuttle from Grand Central to Times Sq and transfer to the 1 Local downtown to Houston St. The restaurant is one block from the station. web review

Mas is tiny restaurant (no more than 40 places) on a quiet street in the Village. Mas means farmhouse in French and there's been some attempt to give the place a rustic feel, although it's also bright and modern.

The service was uniformly friendly and excellent. The winelist was small, but with a strong accent on eclectic French and California wines, with typically high NYC prices.

The food was quite good. There's a 4-course prix fixe menu as well as a la carte. The portions are quite modest, so it's lucky there's a McDonald's on the way back to the subway. Hal had Portuguese sardines and duck breast with a tiny hint of duck confit. Those two courses with two glasses of wine and tip was about $100!

Overall Hal rates this as Very Good, but it's not worth a special trip to Greenwich Village.

Michael Jordan's Steakhouse * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 10/2/07.

In Grand Central Station. This was not on Hal's to-visit list, but a business dinner was scheduled there by others (one day after a dinner at The Palm!). Hal had avoided it because Michael Jackson is pretty creepy, but then I realized Michael JORDAN is a different guy. :-)

This is a traditional modern steakhouse, made unusual by its location on the mezzanine of Grand Central, which adds a picturesque flair. It's not as loud as you might expect. Service was good and attentive. Not being the host, I didn't get to see the winelist, so I have no judgments there. The New York Steak ($40 for 16oz) was fine, a la carte accompaniments were good, too. The creamed spinach was notably good. We had a very unusual appetizer, a fondue not served in a heated pot--large cubes of seasoned bread came stacked on a plate, atop a pool of melted cheese, which tasted as if bleu was one of the ingredients. Delish! Hal rates this Very Good. Not first choice for steak, but a good location.

Morimoto * * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 9/30/07.

88 Tenth Ave near 16th St. This is on the fringe of the Meatpacking District. From Grand Central, take the 4/5/6 to 14th St Union Square, transfer to the L train (14th St Local) and go two stops to 8th Avenue. From there, it's 4 blocks to the restaurant.

Masaharu Morimoto is one of the original Iron Chefs in Japan and continues in the US Food Network series. At one time he was the main chef at Nobu (see below). I have eaten in his first restaurant, in Philadelphia, and was very impressed with the food, decor, and service. This one is very modern in appearance, although not as visually edgy as the Philly version.

The service was uniformly excellent. I was seated alone at the sushi bar, but had very attentive and friendly waiters and other helpers. I ordered the pricey "Omakase" service, which is a 9-cource tasting menu. Here's what I had that night:

On a few courses, the waiter informed me which of the 12 chefs behind the counter were working on my dish. The winelist was quite large for a Japanese restaurant, with many interesting and eclectic choices from around the world. I chose an inexpensive Alsatian gewürztraminer for this meal, but there were at least a dozen tempting alternatives I considered. Prices were pretty decent. The sake menu was large, too, but prohibitively expensive. I was disappointed that they don't have a program of beverages to go with the tasting menu, as many restaurants do.

Overall Hal rates this as Excellent, well worth the trip and the expense.

Morrells * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 8/24/04.

900 Broadway at 20th St, about 23 blocks from Grand Central. It's an easy subway ride from Grand Central on the 4/5/6 Local to the 23rd St station. website

Morrells is the Flatiron District branch of Morrells Winebar in Rockefeller Center (which is a great place for a nice glass of interesting wine and discussions with the bartender about wines). Hal rates this one as Very Good. Hal had a prix fixe tasting menu with glasses of wine matched to each course. The winelist is excellent, with about 150 wines by the glass, although there were few bargains. Food was first rate, the paired wines were well selected, although no real biggies. Food and wine service were both excellent. Nice modern decor. This would be a good business-dinner place.

Visited again by Hal on 11/9/04. The occasion was a wine tasting dinner for Green Valley vintners. There was a nice buffet dinner and glasses of 2 sparkling, 4 Chardonnay, and 6 Pinot Noirs from GV (NW of Sebastopol in the Russian River area of Sonoma County). Reps from all the wineries were present to describe their wares. A very nice experience, well worth the $75. Hal recommends subscribing to Morrells' mailing list to find out about such dinners.

Nobu * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 10/6/04.

105 Hudson St, an easy subway ride. Take the Shuttle from Grand Central to Times Square, transfer to the 1 or 9 local, and get off at Franklin Street, walk about 2 blocks to Hudson. The cab ride would be about $12. website

This Tribeca place is perhaps the most famous somewhat-Japanese restaurant in the US. (When it originally opened, it was described as Peruvian-Japanese, but Hal didn't detect any remaining Peruvian influences.) It's owned by Drew Nieporent and used to feature the cooking of Masahiro Morimoto, of Iron Chef TV fame. (By the way, his restaurant in Philadelphia, Morimoto, is fabulous and almost worth the train ride from NYC.)

Hal knew that reservations are hard to come by, so he went early to arrive at opening time (5:45) at Nobu Next Door, which is located where you might expect, and which doesn't take reservations. Argh! NND was closed for a private party. Fortunately, arriving early at the original Nobu was sufficient to nab a seat at the sushi bar.

This place is quite expensive, which knocks it down from Excellent to Very Good. Hal had a small soft-shell crab roll, about 1 ounce of thin tuna sashimi with jalapeno, a modest portion of halibut cheeks and mushrooms, and one small carafe of house sake. The tab was over $80 (but SunTEA will see only half of that). They also omakase menus (where the chef selects multiple courses) for $80-120, with wine pairings adding $50.

The place is quite casual in decor—Tribeca chic—but the service is first rate. The winelist's innovative, but pricey.

Otto * * * * $

Visited by Hal 1/31/05.

1 Fifth Ave, just north of Washington Sq. Take the 6 Local downtown from Grand Central to Astor Place. Walk west about 1/4 mile. The restaurant is actually just around the corner on 8th Street, website

Otto is Mario Batali's Enoteca and Pizzeria in Greenwich Village. It's quite casual and noisy, populated by a number of people probably from NYU. Hal found the pizza to be very good, although unexceptional. The pizza could probably deal with some more wood-fired taste, similar to the taste of the very crusty bread served. What is exceptional is the Italian winelist, which is stupendous (didn't count, but easily over 400 bottles) and very fairly priced. As with Babbo, they have an excellent selection in ''quartino'', a tiny 250ml carafe.

Hal had the daily special: bruschetta on large crusty bread slices with eggplant, chiles, and mint; pizza "Benno" (one of Batali's kids, he's told), thin-crusted with pesto and mozzarella. Desserts concentrated on gelati, but Hal tried instead a house-made fruit-infused grappa, which was excellent, composed at the table from a selection of fruits, and very reasonable. And very few carbs. :-) The regular menu had lots of 10-inch pizzas, pastas, and a few meat/vegetable dishes.

Service was excellent, despite the big crowd. Hal found a typo on the winelist and had a big parade of people over to thank him and to discuss Italian wines. Lots of handshaking, which could be interpreted as very friendly, authentic Italian, or a health crisis in the making. :-)

Hal rates this as Very Good and an exceptional value. Not the kind of place to take big VP customer guests, but engineers should like it a lot.

The Palm * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal, mid-August 2005 (and many times previously). Updated 10/1/07.

837 Second Ave, near 44th St, about 6 blocks from Grand Central. website

This is the original of the chain, which is Hal's favorite steakhouse. There are 30 or so others, 3 total in NYC. (The Palm Too is directly across the street.)

Hal rates this Very Good (for steakhouse lovers). Decor is funky with sawdust floors and hundreds of caricatures on the walls. (In the 30s, NY Daily News cartoonists would trade their illustrations of celebrities and loyal customers for meals.) Service is brusk. Steaks are Prime and very large portions. Lobsters are in the 3-6 lb range. Appetizers, a la carte sides, and desserts are unremarkable; go for the meat. The winelist is OK, by-the-glass selection poor.

There are other excellent steakhouses in NYC—Sparks, Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, Morton's, Wolfgang's—but the Palm is the quintessential NYC steakhouse.

Update: With the emergence of so many competitive high-end steakhouses, the Palm seems to be changing. Visiting on 10/1/07 (a Monday, admittedly), I noticed a number of differences. At 7pm, the dining room was mostly empty--I can remember two-hour waits on some previous visits. Waiters were hanging around in groups, idle. They now take reservations on OpenTable.com. The sawdust is gone. The NY steak is offered in two sizes--12 and 16oz. The smaller is $38.50, the larger $41.50, both a la carte. Still great meat. The winelist seems bigger and the by-the-glass selection has improved. (The latter is a decent option because the pour size is large.) My sole disappointment this time was that they canceled my "837 Club" frequent-eater account without notice, presumably because I haven't eaten in a Palm recently (mostly because there's no Palm in San Francisco any more). Sigh. Great customer loyalty program. Not.

River Cafe * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal April 2005.

1 Water St (bet Furman & Old Fulton Sts), Brooklyn. Take the 4 or 5 local downtown to Fulton Street station and transfer to the A or C. Take to High Street/Brooklyn Bridge. Walk about 5 blocks on Old Fulton Street to the river and it is almost under the Brooklyn Bridge. Alternatively, take the 4/5 to the Brooklyn Bridge station and walk across the bridge, which deposits you very near the subway station, from which you can walk. website

The River Cafe is a quintessential tourist restaurant offering a stupendous view, but not so memorable food. It's in Brooklyn Heights, or "DUMBO" ("Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"). It's quite expensive, with only a three-course fixed price menu available ($78). It's a beautiful spot with a panoramic view of lower Manhattan across the East River. Service is formal and excellent. The food is very good in the typical American/Continental style that tourists like, leaning toward seafood, although it cannot be considered very innovative and certainly does not match the view. Hal's one significant complaint is that the by-the-glass list of wines is pathetic for a restaurant of this expense. Didn't get to see thereal winelist; probably expensive, given the overall experience.

Overall, Pretty Good. Probably too touristy for a business dinner.

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 10/5/04.

885 2nd Ave between 47th & 48th, about 6 blocks from Grand Central. website

This is a branch of the nationwide chain that Hal visited on the recommendation of a friend. Well, that friend is ranked down one notch. Hal rates this one as a weak OK.

It's a modern, comfortable setting, with solicitous service (except as noted below). Very expensive—almost $40 for a NY steak a la carte. The steak was marred by the very gimmick they promote, serving it with melted butter on a 500-degree plate. Folks, this is not some poor lobster. Butter has a strong flavor that detracts from the meat! (The meat was good once you got past the popcorn taste, though.)

The sauteed spinach side dish ($8) must have been sauteed in sand. Hal had to wait 7-8 minutes to get a waiter interested in hearing this complaint and he admitted the kitchen had already prepared all the spinach for the evening, so no improvement would be noticed. They substituted a nice plate of asparagus and comped it.

The winelist was pretty good and fairly priced for this sort of place.

Solera * * * * $ $ ?

Hal visited in April, 2005. (The prices were unknown as this was a group business dinner with customers and Hal didn't see the bill.)

216 E 53rd St, near 3rd Ave. An easy 20-minute walk.

Solera is billed as an authentic Spanish restaurant that has not been modified to fit American tastes. Not having seen the regular menu, it's difficult to judge, but they seem to specialize in tapas as well as traditional Spanish main courses.

Wait a minute, this is turning out to be a lame review. Hal didn't see the menu, winelist, or bill! All he can say is that the tapas were excellent, his pork tenderloin with crayfish and his Crema Catalana were very good, and the inexpensive Rioja (both blanco and tinto) was very nice. Service was very good in the private dining room.

Steak-Frites * $

Visited by Hal and colleagues 9/21/04.

9 E 16th St, 26 blocks from Grand Central. website

We visited Steak-Frites following a Sun "Geek Fest" at the Manhattan Penthouse; it was the only Union Square restaurant ready to take a table of 6 at 8pm, which probably should have told us something. (The best restaurant in this neighborhood, Union Square Cafe, had a 90-minute wait.)

Hal rates this one Poor, his worst meal in NYC in a very long time. It's typical in style to many Parisian steak-frites places on the Left Bank, but the food was inferior. Both of Hal's dishes can be described as desiccated—escargot and cassoulet. The menu selections were just the kind of tourist French that should have died in the 60s.

Service was poor; the tattooed and pierced waitress told us they didn't let the staff taste any of the dishes, so she couldn't recommend things. She was in a race to empty wine bottles into glasses, regardless of drinking speed. Most of us left half of our food on the plates and she never inquired.

The winelist wasn't bad, but nothing special. It was maddening that the first 3 wines Hal tried to order were out of stock.

Suba * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 1/20/05.

109 Ludlow St (between Delancey & Rivington Streets). A taxi ride is the only reasonable option; the subway route from Grand Central is convoluted. website

Suba is a trendy Spanish restaurant in the Lower East Side. Given the appearance of the outside of the building, you would probably not enter had you been merely wandering by (which, given the neighborhood, is unlikely, come to think of it). But the inside is inviting, with a cozy bar upstairs and a brick-lined downstairs dining room of modest size. Even the ceiling is vaulted brick. (This architecture would never fly in San Francisco!) A lighted stream of water runs around the periphery, casting moving light reflections on the walls. Most of the clientel was young, perhaps because of the locale or the reasonable prices.

The cuisine is modern enough Spanish, or perhaps fusion Spanish, that you would have difficulty discriminating some of the dishes from, say, Californian. Flavors were not distinctly Iberian, even though the items all had Spanish names and included favorites such as paella. Hal had a nice dish of duck breast with a leg confit, which could have easily been served in France or California. The appetizer was Tarta de Ropa Vieja, which combined short ribs, duck confit, and fois gras, ground up in two tiny slices on brioche toasts.

Service was very friendly and competent. Example: after a discussion about choosing between two Tempranillos—Rioja and Ribera del Duero—the waiter brought out tastes of both. The Rioja was the clear winner. And after a brief incident in which a dish was undercooked a tad, he fixed it immediately and comped one of the glasses. The winelist was very good, concentrating strongly on Spanish and South American, and there were good values from the by-the-glass list. And some very nice sherries.

All-in-all a nice evening and a good value, even considering the $23 roundtrip via taxi. But too small and dark for a business dinner. Hal rates it as Pretty Good.

Tabla * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal April 2005.

11 Madison Ave at 25th St, an easy 16-block walk from Grand Central. (Or see subway directions for the Flatiron District.) review

Tabla uses American-familiar ingredients with Indian spices and preparation methods. For example, it would be odd to find lambchops or salmon on a typical Indian menu, but they work well here. Hal had a duck Samosa and lambchops and both were excellent. The options are three courses for $54 or a couple of more expensive tasting menus. No a la carte. All the food was flavorful and innovative.

Service is excellent and the decor is stunning. Sleek, polished wood, colorful mosaics, and a dramatic circular balcony in the second-floor dining room that overlooks the bar and the more-casual "Bread Bar" restaurant. As one might expect, this raises the noise level. Winelist was very good with a broad international collection. The dozen or so wines by the glass were interesting choices and fairly priced. There are two Indian wines by the glass and the waitress gave Hal a taste of a Shiraz. Hal's verdict: Stick with your day jobs, Indians.

Hal rates Tabla as Very Good. It is probably too noisy and dark for a business dinner.

Tamarind * * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 3 times in the last year.

41-43 E 22nd St, near Park Ave S, about 20 easy walking blocks from Grand Central. See the description of Flatiron restaurants for subway directions. website

Tamarind is a smart, modern Indian restaurant that has the same name as Hal's favorite in London, but it's unrelated. Food is innovative and very flavorful. Meats and nan from the Tandoori oven are particularly good choices. The menu mines from various Indian styles: Punjab, Hyderabad, Goa, Madras, Lucknow, and Calcutta. Great for carnivores and vegetarians. Excellent service, good winelist, very attractive room, reasonable prices.

Hal rates Tamarind as Excellent, consistently over multiple visits. It would be a reasonable choice for a business dinner.

Town * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal 2/2/05.

15 W 56th St, between 5th and 6th Avenues, about 16 blocks from Grand Central. really cool website

Town is a very attractive, expensive restaurant featuring innovative American cuisine. The space is gorgeous, the clientel young and attractive, but well-heeled. Service was excellent. The winelist was very broad with strong international components, moderately highly priced. The by-the-glass selection was reasonable, but pretty expensive.

There are two spaces—the lower room has an expansive ceilings and soft colors; the upper balcony space is an extension of the noisy, crowded bar. In the upper space, the menu is a la carte, but the lower is prix fixe. The bottom rung is appetizer, entree, and dessert or cheese for $71. There are also four- and five-course choices, but the chef selects the menu, not you. Add wine pairings for about $50 on those two upper menus. Hal had a tuna tart and then a lamb tenderloin with a lamb shank sausage. The waiter selected two glasses of wine to accompany these: an Albarino and a Mendoza Malbec, both excellent matches and fairly priced. The striking thing about the food was the explosion of tastes. Every bite had four or five brilliant tastes woven together, such as thinly sliced lemons with the lamb. The bad news is that these courses were quite small, more akin to a tasting menu than a regular meal. So you need to stop at the hotdog cart on your way back to the hotel.

Hal rates this as Very Good for food, wine, and service, but it's marred by the light courses and heavy check. It would be very adequate for a fancy business dinner.

Tuscan * * $ $

Visited by Hal for lunch 8/25/04.

622 Third Ave near 40th St, 3 blocks from Grand Hyatt. review

Tuscan is modern Italian, owned by Jeffery Chouderow, the villain of the NBC reality show, The Restaurant, and Rocco di Spirito consults on the menu, I'm told. It's right around the corner from 101 Park and is supposedly hard to get into for dinner, but we just walked in for lunch.

Very attractive room, good service. The winelist had few well-priced choices, but there were a lot of nice Italians. Hal found the food rather ordinary, so would rate the full experience as OK, at least for lunch. (But the company was good. :-))

Veritas * * * * * $ $

Visited by Hal 9/7/04.

43 E 20th St, near Park Ave S, 22 blocks from Grand Central. website

Veritas is a restaurant for oenophiles, one of the most stupendous winelists extant. There was a 'market list' with about 70 reasonably priced wines and a huge reserve list that was almost exclusively 3-, 4-, and 5-digit wines, some in bottles as large as jeroboams. The by-the-glass list was rather modest, alas. What was most striking was that there were very few wines I'd consider too young to drink, such as few Bordeaux first growths under 14 years. There were 11 vintages of Penfolds Grange, for example, only 1 from the 90s. My only criticism was that the American Pinot Noir selection was comparatively sparse and they could have done better for Australia and South Africa. The sommelier was excellent and he recommended a wine less expensive than one I suggested as an example. [It was a '96 Coteaux de Languedoc, quite nice.]

The only choice is a 3-course prix fixe (which is not great for those who are not dessert eaters). The meal was excellent. (Hal had sweetbreads and the best Sonoma lamb saddle he's ever encountered.) Service was great. The room is quite small, but attractive and comfortable.

This is an excellent choice for a high-end business dinner. Hal rates it Excellent.

WD-50 * * * * * $ $ $

Visited by Hal in March, 2005.

50 Clinton St., between Stanton and Rivington, in the Lower East Side. From the Grand Hyatt, walk two blocks to the subway station at 42nd St and 5th Ave. Take the F train south to the Delancey Street station. Exit on Essex St and it's about three blocks to the restaurant. The neighborhood is not an attractive one, but seems safe enough. A cab ride would be about $12 each way. website another review site

WD-50 is named for chef Wylie Dufresne, who has established a reputation for creating new, unusual food combinations. Hal read a magazine article recounting his quest to create fried mayonnaise and was intrigued.

The decor is rather plain, but attractive. Service is casual, but excellent. The winelist is relatively small and eclectic with moderately priced California, French, and Spanish selections. There is an a la carte menu, but since there are so many unusual things to try, the tasting menu demands attention. Here is what Hal had that night:

All of the portions are quite small, so this is not as overwhelming as it probably appears. It does take two hours to get through it. The food was superb and all of the crazy combinations work perfectly. There is a wine-pairing option that's a pretty good value; all the wines are from the by-the-glass menu. The tasting menu cannot cater to vegetarians, but there is one veggie dish each in the a la carte menu's appetizer and entree selections.

Hal rates WD-50 as Excellent—worth a trip for the taste combinations. However, it's a bit casual and ill-located for a fancy business dinner, despite the elevated prices.

To-Visit List

Here are the restaurants on Hal's current to-visit list (although in his new job, Hal won't be getting to New York as routinely as last year)..