Hi

Whilst in NYC a few weeks back we had a lovely lunch at a restaurant bewteen 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue and I *think* it was on 52nd Street (or thereabouts)

It had a few tables on the sidewalk and did mostly pasta.

Quite a smart place but also very casual (IFKWIM)

Love to be reminded of the name so I can recommend to people.
GG

Sorry I can't help... but I am curious... what does (IFKWIM) mean?

Actually I typed it wrong - should be IYKWIM

= If you know what I mean

May be a British acronym!!??

GG

Oh, please tell... Is it a British secret?

I work on 52nd St. off Fifth Ave., and the only Italian place I can think of is Fresco by Scotto. There is the fancy restaurant and then the take-out place next door. One of my favorite NYC restaurants.

Il Menestrello is on 52nd betw Fifth & Mad. on the south (downtown) side of the street & I think has umbrellas on the outdoor tables. Bice is on 54th on the north side betw Fifth & Mad. There are fewer tables outside than Il Menestrello &, as I recall, the tables sit under the restaurant awning rather than umbrellas. Bice has wood french doors from the front bar area that are often left open. Both are Italian and neither are what I would call casual. Bice gets a trendy "Euro" crowd while Il Menestrello gets a more business crowd for lunch.

luv2fly, Fresco is between Madison & Park.

Bice - that was it!!!!

thanks mclaurie!

I thought it was sort of casual given that my husband was in shorts and t-shirt and didn't look terribly out of place.

Thank you

GG

PS TxTravelPro I don't know what you mean??

The snobbiest waiters I have ever had in my life at Bice. Although it was empty and remained that way the whole time we were there, the fact that we had the audacity to come in without reservations really semed to bother them.

i worked in the restaurant biz in both NYC and SF so I am not out of the loop when it comes to fine dining. There rudeness was so out of bounds.

Oh dear that's not good.
We just spotted it from 5th Ave and had no problem, not snobby at all - My husband and I just had a caesar salad each for lunch.

They were very friendly and the food was good.

GG

Can't speak to the Bice in NYC but the one in Chicago has outstanding food (and I like to think of myself as knowing my Italian food.) I initially thought the waiters were somewhat snobbish but then realized most are directly from Italy and have a very limited amount of English so they don't say much. Also, the one here has a more casual sister restaurant next store so maybe that's where you were b/c otherwise it is pretty dressy.

I was underwhelmed with Bice this week. I had the fresh pasta, cavatelli with a fresh tomato sauce. The room was nice with huge floral arrangements in the center, the bar was very busy but the restaurant wasn't all that crowded and the service was inattentive and lacking. A bottle of good champagne was ordered as an appertif and was left sitting on the service table instead of being iced. When I asked for a cooler to be placed by our table with the champagne I was informed that they didn't have enough for the dining room.

Several well known people arrived to eat. Every one hovered around Harold Ramis and his family as they were apparently regulars. I sure won't be. LMF

It's been a number of years since eating there, but Bice in New York totally underwhelmed me as well. My favorite thing was being seated and immediately the waiter came over and started pouring bottled water (with gas)into our glasses. I stopped him saying we don't drink "fizzy" water and would just as soon have tap water anyway. He stared at me and said, "you should have told me that before I opened it". Huh? He approached our table with it opened and started pouring. The meal went downhill from there.

Interestingly enough we are about to get a Bice in Naples, Florida. Everyone else seems to be excited about it, so maybe I'm still just carrying a grudge.