Hello all, my father is taking some clients out in NYC next week and needs a restaurant rec on the upper east side. There are a lot of NYC experts here and I would really appreciate any input.
He is looked for high end but not insane. He isn’t much of a tasting menu type person so a la carte would likely be best. Prefers classic Italian or American. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!
I’m not sure what you consider insane but Daniel is one of the best in the area but not cheap.
I would consider Daniel insane.
Where on the Upper East Side? That matters. I’ve lived on the UES for about 30 years so I should be able to send you in the right direction.
My strong instinct would be to go to either of the restaurants owned by the Altamarea Group - Morini or Vaucluse. Both are high end, both have appropriate service for a client meal, neither is insane in a way that could offend clients. My dad used to take clients to Morini. I think the food at Morini can be truly excellent.
Other options:
Café Boulud - a smidge less fancy than Daniel. It may be too expensive though. I personally prefer Morini to Café Boulud but reasonable people can disagree.
The Mark is expensive for the sake of being expensive. I wouldn’t go there. The other high end Italian places - Elio’s, Paola’s, Sfoglia - are more family or date-y places than business places, though Paola’s would be your best option if, for some reason, he had to go out all the way uptown in the 90s. Same with Table d’Hote - it’s appropriate in price and quality, but not in atmosphere.
He could try the Simone, 80s off of Lex. The food there is very, very good. It’s not as business-y as Morini though.
Another option - though I’ve never tried it since Cesare Casella took his name off it - is the Italian place that used to be called Rosi on Madison in the 70s. Back when it was still called Rosi it was really excellent, and I always had a sneaking suspicion that he was just lending them his name, so it may still be good.
Arlington Club isn’t good anymore, FWIW, though it is the best option if the clients are the sort who want to get steaks.
There are a number of excellent sushi restaurants on the UES but I assume that’s not what he’s looking for.
Daniel is the priciest/fanciest restaurant in the UES. Cafe Boulud is very good but french; it’s also better for dates/family than business in my view.
If your father is going to be near the southern edge of the UES I can recommend some business-appropriate restaurants. Aquavit is just south of the UES and very corporate but it’s scandinavian food. BLT steak is a little north of that and probably appropriate for a business dinner. Felidia is Italian, very good, and also just south of 59th street.
As the poster above said, if your father wants to branch japanese, the ues has a lot of good restuarants (ie gari/sasabune).
Daniel is also some of the most disappointing food for the money in the city, if not the country.
One can get utterly ripped off much more cheaply, at Eli Zabar’s EAT on Madison and 81st.
Look, if you’re looking to light money on fire the UES south of 79th and east of park is happy to help.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. As for the question above, I talked to my father who said anywhere between 50th - 110th would best.
Rob - 50th-60th is not UES, that’s midtown, and there are a number of excellent business-friendly restaurants in that neighborhood. E.g., the Modern, Felidia, La Grenouille, Aquavit and Sparks.
That being said, I still think Vaucluse may be your best option - it sounds like he’s thinking more UES than Midtown, and Vaucluse is at 63rd so its definitely UES.
Ha. What’s an egg salad sandwich runnin’ these days?
I did not get that far. A 16-ounce standard coffee to go is $3.75…twice that anywhere else.
If I recall, the sandwich should be approximately $17, before tax, tip, and hey-sucker attitude.
Any Kayser’s would be happy to sell you that cup for a bargain price of $3.50, and they won’t even charge extra for allowing it to cool down—I mean to age—to room temperature.
So as not to cause any additional thread drift, I will suggest Amali as another possible spot for your father’s dinner, especially if he would like the option to bring his own wine. Back room only since it’s a business dinner.