While you are correct about Lincoln Center requiring masks for all performances, for Broadway shows, masks are optional. However, some shows have started offering a few designated performances where masks are required.
It may vary by show, or have changed since I went over the summer when they specifically made announcements for mask wearing.
I assumed it would last longer there given the age profile, which is likely why Lincoln Center is requiring them.
Regardless of the mask requirement, for the fall cast, I wouldn’t pay $300. Plenty of cheaper seats available and sound is excellent in Family Circle.
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Finance bro and sis for that matter live uptown, downtown, east side and west side. Younger ones are found everywhere that you find young professionals. Older more established types are found in pretty much every high end 'hood in the city. When they go out where they live, you probably wouldn’t be able to spot them unless you listened in to their conversations or knew your clothes labels really well. But as a very general matter, any of the nicer more expensive spots in any neighborhood are likely to draw those in the area in as cost is not an issue.
I used to live in that area. I thought is was a great place to be for the variety of things going on. Lincoln Center on the south end with all its has to offer. Used to go to Mostly Mozart a lot. Museum of Natural History, Central Park and Riverside Park where I used to run all the time. The boat basin at 79th where a friend kept a boat. Zabar’s, all the restaurants on Columbus. Its such a walkable area. Probably better for living than for tourists which is fine. It does have a more residential feel than most neighborhoods. I miss it. But my girlfriend who became my wife was a downtown girl and she refused to move uptown.
This hasn’t been the case for many years. The only bulge bracket firm still downtown is GS. Everyone else has headed to midtown. Most of the HFs and other asset managers are in midtown too. Financial district is pretty much financial in name only these days. Many of the buildings that used to house the industry now house people. 1 Wall is a condo. Anyone remember who used to be located there? A once storied name that most wouldn’t even recognize now.
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The plot thickens! A good friend of mine, living in my home town, is also in NYC right now, so we can meet up, with his friends. He is very much not a ‘finance bro’, but a theater maker and former musician.
He is also vegetarian, so that brings me to the following question: what is a good and authentic Indian place in the UWS, or within a 15 min cab ride?
Second question: he is going to a concert in Brooklyn this Monday (‘Viagra boys’!) and has invited me along, but I think the time difference is going to hit me on that first day. So, I’ll probably opt for a solo diner instead, and was thinking of Marea. They have a bar and the food looks good, raw fish and pasta. Good choice? Any other recs for a solo diner at the bar? Light meal preferably.
By the way, found a nice cocktail bar, Nubeluz at the Ritz Nomad. Made reservations.
@BKeats : I had to look it up… Bony? But that’s still a household name, so you probably mean the original tenants Irving Trust… Saw it on wikipedia.
For nice Indian, I like Tamarind but its all the way downtown. I will let others chime in on Indian though as there are others here that known it well and I rarely have it.
Marea is great. Some of the best pasta I have ever eaten was there but that was pre-covid and so its been a few years since I have been. If they have the uni and lardo crostini, get it. Crazy amount of uni/ricci. Desserts are good too. They also make an excellent dry aged steak.
Winner winner chicken dinner. Used to be called the Irving Trust building.
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Indian Accent is not your average Indian restaurant. We’ve had a number of superb meals there. It’s in Midtown, on W. 56th St., so a short ride from the UWS.
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Neither are my crowd nor my scene, so I honestly wouldn’t know.
I was merely giving the benefit of the doubt that things might not have changed in 25 years.
Baazi on the UWS - I haven’t been since they revamped but it’s previous incarnation (same team) was among the best indian in the city.
If you want something totally different (and completely vegetarian), take a cab to Vatan, which is a multi-course prix fixe regional indian meal that’s delicious and authentic, unlikely to be found elsewhere (outside india).
Given where you’re coming from, I’d skip Marea and go to Momofuku noodle bar at Columbus circle. They have plenty of bar seating (one side facing the open kitchen, the other the bar, depends on what you want to watch), the food is great, and more interesting. Second choice would be Blue Ribbon right there as well — busy bar, get some sushi and then the fried chicken.
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Masks are optional at most Broadway theaters these days…Here’s the most updated list of the various theaters’ rules: https://www.telecharge.com/siteinfo.aspx?siteinfotype=helpfaq&stop_mobi=yes
RedFarm is right near your hotel. Has a busy and good bar, and the snacks (read: spicy crispy beef) are very delish, IMO. I’m a native, and it’s where I will wander if I want a bite at a bar. The other place I will head for more continental fare is Tessa . They have a great burger (also have nice brunch sandwiches, etc.). Their new joint, Asset (Tessa backwards), is also (last I went) hopping in the bar dept. And decent food. Jacob’s Pickle (Maison Pickle, mentioned by @Saregama is their second spot) and E’s Bar are on Amsterdam between 84th and 85th (these two tend to be teeming) These are all right near your hotel. They get somewhat to very busy depending on who’s playing the Beacon.
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Also excellent but more mainstream – Saar in Hells Kitchen.
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We enjoyed our last meal at Parm on the UWS. Nothing fancy but good old style Italian.
If you get there at the right time a chocolate chip cookie at Levain is fantastic.
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Whew! All theses years and you’d never sad this. I was beginning to lose faith in you. Vatan is indeed excellent, and quite different from anything else in NY.
Perhaps the in-crowd can next dine there?
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“After all these years”, I’ve never been to Vatan. It may well be a great spot for a group dinner in early November.
Quick half time update.
Tried a few things that are difficult to find in Europe.
- Los Tacos no1 (Midtown) - excellent cheap tacos!
- Pearl Oyster Bar (West Village) - had the lobster roll of course, really good food and vibe
- Yoon Haendae Galbi (K-town) - Korean bbq, we had a table with a bbq, really good beef
Then I was invited to two Greek restaurants in Midtown.
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Kellari Taverna - business crowd at lunch. I had the lobster ravioli, and we shared some mezze. The sauce of the ravioli was a bit too sweet imho. Otherwise great vibe.
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Nerai - dinner was a mixture of business people and tourists. They were out of the Dover sole unfortunately, so I had halibut instead. As a starter we had oysters and steamed lobster. Good if you’re in the area, but for example the lobster at Pearl Oyster is much better (and bigger!).
Cocktails:
- Nubeluz at the Ritz Nomad (great view, more relaxed than I had anticipated),
- Zou Zou’s (near MSG, busy and good cocktails),
- and finally I had a mid day daiquiri at the really nice bar of the Wall Street Hotel.
Best office views so far: One Vanderbilt, Brookfield Place, and then I attended an all-day event at the wonderful Rainbow Room.
Madison Square Garden: we had our own box watching the Knicks. Amazing experience for a European!
UWS breakfast:
- Zabar’s,
- Mille-feuille (closest thing to an European breakfast)
- Barney Greengrass (really good sturgeon and salmon, friendly servers).
To be continued.
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Final part, where my co workers joined me, and I had to follow some of their recommendations.
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Iridium jazz club midtown - never again!
Mediocre food -
The Smith (2nd avenue and 51) - I had breakfast here, very good place! Buzzing atmosphere even at 10AM, lots of birthdays and families. I had avocado on toast which was a wonderful way to start the day.
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Smith & Wollensky (3rd and 49) - old school steak house. My bone-in rib eye was excellent! It’s a good place, filled to the brim on a Sunday evening. I did have the impression that the steaks of the others were less good than mine, perhaps because most of them ordered medium rare, whereas I chose rare. Did not visit another steak house sadly, but I really had to recover 2 days from eating this almost 2 pounds steak.
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Los Mariscos (Chelsea market) - amazing fish tacos, and even more amazing margaritas! One of my favourites in Manhattan. Some of my co workers had a lobster roll at nearby Lobster Place but it didn’t seem nice to me. All in all, I found Chelsea market a bit chaotic and commercial, apart from Los Mariscos.
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Time Out Market Dumbo - it was okay. Unfortunately the weather on that Sunday was not as good as the day before, so we were sitting inside. Had some appetizers and cocktails. Overpriced for the quality.
And then came the highlight of my trip: Oceans on 19 and Park Avenue. https://guide.michelin.com/nl/nl/new-york-state/new-york/restaurant/oceans
This was perfect expense account dining. Not an expensive place on paper (e.g. no Michelin star), but once inside one can really enjoy some great food and drinks (and then the bill will rack up!). One of my colleagues said this was his best business dinner ever in 10 years of traveling.
I went there twice for dinner, and both on the Monday and Tuesday it was packed. Great mix of people, from business, finance, and art. Service was great, knowledgeable and fun. The bar was perfect - we were at the bar for half an hour so drinking cocktails while waiting for everyone to come in. The setting is just breath taking - very urban/elegant New York.
On the Monday I was with a group of 8 in total. We started with some of the best oysters I have ever had in the US, both from the east and west coast. I then had a whole Maine lobster (juicy and big) as a starter, followed by sushi rolls as my main. Others chose king crab and fresh whole fish (sea bass, lots was sold out already).
On my second day (party of 2), I had sushi rolls and sashimi to share as a starter, and then a lobster roll for main.
All in all I really enjoyed my trip to NYC (Manhattan). Thanks everyone here for their invaluable advice and suggestions!
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In the Before Time, we dined many times at Oceans as it’s a short walk from our apartment. Always excellent in every respect. Glad you enjoyed it twice.
Edited to add: We have not been able to go there since 2019 because, sadly, they have no outdoor dining.
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Great (but also sad) to hear.
That’s a wonderful area for restaurants it seems. I quickly walked past next door neighbour Boucherie Union Square, and the bar looked like a great place to dine solo.
And then, instead of my second night at Oceans I had wanted to go to nearby Gramercy Tavern, but my friend had just celebrated his father’s birthday there a week before…
By the way, I also had drinks at The Nines (Great Jones Str, NoHo) - good cocktails upstairs, fun and relaxed club downstairs.
You’re right about that general area having a lot of excellent restaurants.
Union Square Cafe, directly across 19th St. from Oceans, is one of our favs dating back to when it was in its original location on 16th St., off Union Square. It is, of course, Danny Meyer’s first restaurant and Gramercy Tavern’s older sibling (GT was his second) followed by many others. Happily, USC has lots of comfortable outdoor seating, so we’ve been able to continue eating there, most recently, a few weeks ago. If you’ve never been, you should try it next time you come to the city.
As for Boucherie, we ate there twice. The first time, it was pretty good, so we had high hopes of adding it to our regular rotation. However, the second experience was so terrible in every respect, we never went back. A shame, really, since French food is our first love.
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