NYC - modern/elegant restaurant recommendation?
 

Any recommendations for a restaurant for our 10 year anniversary? We are in our late thirties and are looking for a modern NY vibe but not overly crowded/noisy. We plan to go out afterwards for drinks so a location that we could easily walk to lounge/bar spots would be great. Any ideas are appreciated.

10th anniversary - how wonderful! I am not sure of your budget, but here goes. We've eaten at Bouley for quite a few of our anniversaries - our last meal there in February was fantastic. We had the tasting menu and my choices just happened to be all seafood, but it doesn't have to be. The atmosphere is lovely, not totally quiet, but not a lot of noise. I love Gotham Bar and Grill and always have a great time there. There's a terrific vibe there, but it is not real quiet. I love their seafood salad appetizer that has been on the menu from Day1. I also love Eleven Madison and Gramercy Tavern (both Danny Meyer restaurants). Both are special.

Bouley is in Tribeca; Gotham is in the Village; the other two are in the 20's. So all would be near other downtown post-dinner hot spots.

I love the food at Aquagrill, but it's quarters are so tight that it isn't special enough for an anniversary, IMO.

There are many more choices depending upon budget and types of food that you like.

Happy Anniversary!

Craft is excellent. Modern, New York-ey, in the Flatiron/Union Square area on East 19th Street. You can walk to meatpacking district from there..


http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craft_style.html

Topping because I'm seeking recs for a similar evening--although not an anniversary and not romantic. Still... :)

Would add Babbo to the list

Also Gotham would fit the bill. great decor and wonderful food/service.

andrew8 - it took me five years to get into Babbo! lol

Gotham is a favorite. Have to agree on Babbo -- I especially loved it for the holiday season when I was there. If you're looking for modern, you could try The Modern at MOMA. I've only been there for drinks, but the space is wonderful. Moved away from NYC last year -- I miss it!!!

Last summer we dined at Asiate and that would fit the bill nicely. In January we tried the new Gordon Ramsey restaurant (at the London NYC?) and while the food was good, I didn't enjoy the atmosphere as much. Also, we enjoyed Buddakhan- -great food and atmosphere and a big happening bar area, maybe not special enough for an anniversary.

Regarding Babbo. We'll finally be going for my partner's birthday on Monday night --June 30. We got reservations the only way I knew how. Exactly one month to the day before going, you start calling at 10 AM. You hit the redial until you get through. I succeeded at getting through at about noon -- two hours of wearing out my redial finger. We took the only reservation we could get -- 5:30 PM (or I think we could have gone after 10). Since we fly home early the next morning we took the early reservation and are looking forward to it.

Also last night we may have had the BEST food ever for us in New York -- at AquaGrill. But I'd have to agree that the rather crowded, plain quarters may keep it from being the atmosphere you are seeking. Although don't "modern NY vibe" and crowded and noisy kind of go hand in hand?

Patrick - on my last and first successful attempt to get into Babbo for DH's birthday, I did what you did, but I used two different phone lines - visualize a phone in each hand and hitting redial for each. It was truly maddening and if it wasn't that DH had wanted to go there for years, I would have tossed both phones out the window. It took about a half hour and we got a 6:30 reservation which was fine. It was one of the best meals of my life. You are in for a real treat.

I'm glad that you enjoyed Aquagrill - it's been a fav of ours since it opened.

To be honest, in addition to hitting redial, I tried another trick someone told me about. I redial the full number except for the last two digits. I was told that when you do that, it looks out other incoming calls to that number. I count 12 seconds then hit next to the last number, count another 12 seconds and then hit the last number. That is how I got through, but don't know if that blocking out idea really is the reason or not. Holding longer than 12 seconds and the line will turn to busy and you lose the partial connection.

Had lunch yesterday at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and thought it was <i>wonderful</i>. It's midtown in the Four Season hotel. Very nice modern but not stark ambiance. Lots of places to go from there for a drink including the Plaza, Dizzy's Coca Cola at Time Warner with some jazz, the lobby lounge of the Mandarin Oriental, the Carnegie Club.

No one's mentioned Eleven Madison Park as another dining option. I also love Bouley and Megu Club is nearby for a drink.

I don't think that Jean Georges has been mentioned yet. We celebrated my boyfriend's 40th birthday party in the fall, and the group agreed that it was one of the most fantastic meals we have ever had. The room was very modern and NY and the service was impeccable.

People rave about 11 Madison Park. I hate it. I've been there twice, once for my birthday last year, I thought the room was cold, the service poor, and the food only so-so considering all the raves the place gets. I enjoyed the tamarind margaritas much more at Bread Bar at Table next door more than the fancy meal. Skip it.

I would also throw out the idea of The Modern restaurant. I've only eaten at the Bar Room at the Modern which received its own review, but there's also the Modern restaurant proper. The food is very contemporary/ avant garde but approachable.

Aquagrill is my favorite restaurant in NYC, but not beautiful enough to celebrate an anniversary in.

If by modern you mean decor - I would recommend A Voce on Madison Avenue and 26th Street. The decor is stunning - quite cool. The meal I had there last year was delicious - pricy but excellent. Very good service. Unfortunately, the chef who opened the place just left last week - so I cannot say the same standards are being kept up.

Around Madison Square might be a good idea - you can easily go to some of the new cool rooftop bars in the area - here is a link to a recent NY Magazine article about roof top bars
http://nymag.com/nightlife/barbuzz/11025/

Another terrific restaurant in that area is mentioned above - Tabla - wonderful modern Indian food. A less formal but still great space is the downstairs restaurant Bread Bar.

Eleven Madison is near there also.

Besides the other very good suggestion made by other esteemed posters, you might like Toqueville near Union Square, Telepan on the UWS, Picholine near Lincoln Center, Blue Hill in Greenwich Village. There are literally dozens more - you can do some research on that NY magazine site, or on eater.com or on menupages.com

patrick - about Babbo - such an effort!!! That's a very heavy burden and high expectations for a restaurant to carry. I hope they don't let you down

If I can make a suggestion, based on my reading of your posts and trip reports, when you get to Babbo, you might be better off asking to sit upstairs. Babbo feels likes 2 restaurants to me sometimes - downstairs is dark and cramped and noisy and almost frenetic - upstairs is lighter, bigger and more controlled. It's still energetic, it's just a bit more &quot;adult&quot;.

When you get there, you'll see what I mean. And there are some REALLY bad tables downstairs. Like, this is a narrow passageway leading to the kitchen but we can squeeze a few small two tops here and no one will complain small.

Just a suggestion.

Asiate near the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel with the view of central park and columbus circle is my recommendation. Elegant service, beautiful view and great food.

Great suggestion about Babbo MP

You could do Asiate for dinner and then go to Bar Boulud afterwards which is near the Mandarin.

This is a good, mouth-watering thread, but what happened to snyder? Is it their 11th anniversary yet?

Snyder will probably come back. Meanwhile, I for one am taking notes. I like modern/innovative food. I have read about the Bar Room at the Modern before--I think on egullet--but is the food up to the atmosphere?