New York City around New Year's
Replies: 13 - Last Post: Dec 15, 2012 5:20 AM Last Post By: tspruytte
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New York City around New Year's
Hello fellow inhabitants of Earth! :-)My partner and I are spending a week in New York City around New Year's, and I'm looking for culinary and shopping tips.
For now, our plans are simple:
- Enjoy good food
- Enjoy some shopping
- Enjoy a few musicals
- Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Which restaurants, shops, musicals and other things would you recommend?
In particular, which restaurant would you recommend for a romantic/special New Year's Eve dinner? Budget = up to 100-150$ per person. I mainly want to avoid crowds, at least the restaurant itself has to feel cozy, romantic, with a good mood...
We're staying next to Chinatown (Canal St. / Lafayette St.), but we can travel around of course.
Many thanks in advance, and happy holidays!
Tim from Belgium
1
Welcome to TT.I'm a big fan of Macy's when I visit the US. The Levis are cheaper than Europe, the staff are very helpful. It might be the kind of shopping experience you want. The one on Herald Sq has a wooden escalator which I find interesting.
I took my gf to River Cafe in Brooklyn for an anniversary meal, she liked. It might come within your price range. Do read up on dress code if you can get in.
It is tricky to recommend without knowing your interests but I always recommend The High Line (maybe not so nice in the cold) and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.
I can't talk about the cast but I did like Wicked when I saw it in London.
2
I'm kind of a culture banana so my advice might not be the best. That said- Phantom of the Opera has been running for so long there must be something to it. Once you and i see it that will be pretty much everyone who is not a Bedoiun nomad or Chinese peasant.
- The hottest shows right now are The Lion King, Newsies and Wicked, but Allegiance has gathered sort of a small but loyal cult-like following. The Book of Mormon is also well-reviewed but it is kind of insulting to some people, and watching people be insulted is not entertaining to all.
4
Just to clarify, Sandy was a storm when it hit New York, not a hurricane.In terms of fancy restaurants (and I'm surprised the New York Star Chamber haven't leaped in here) you could peruse Chowhound or New York Times websites. Alternately PM solohobo, bzookaj or webstrella. The only way I've done that kind of thing is by clicking through a person's name on previous postings so wander back through postings on the US branch. Additionally search TT, maybe something like 'romantic dinner new york' or 'romantic dinner manhattan' because this kind of question has been asked before.
6
I know even less about high-end food than I do about high-end culture. (I actually like low-end cuisine, so it's almost silly for me to comment on this). If i were looking for a nice restaurant on new year's eve, I'd start searching chowhound with terms like "Wagyu Beef" and "Bobby Flay."Personally I'm a fan of wild game, but in restaurants, much of the wild game you're getting has been in the deep freeze for months, and really doesn't count. It's about FRESH wild game, not about wild game. The two just not the same.
I advise you to avoid the temptation to go to Times Square and to instead look for a table with a view of the water or whatever.
Edited by: LongIslandBob
7
Hi Tim, New Years Eve in NYC is ridiculously expensive, crazy and crowded. My recommended restaurants are: www.lecirque.com, www.figandolive.com, http://www.butterrestaurant.com/, some good old fashioned street meat http://newyork.cbslocal.com/top-lists/top-street-meat/, and http://taorestaurant.com/.Celsius, a bar/restaurant which is completely opened (no walls) to the oustside but is heated with heat lamps over looks the ice skating at Bryant Park. Subway stop is right there so easy to get to from chinatown.
A lot of locals do the cruises around manhattan for new years http://www.skylinecruises.com/nye.html.
Best,
8
The hottest areas to eat in the City these days are primarily in Brooklyn. Check out Smith Street in Cobble Hill, 5th Avenue in Park Slope (between 9th Street and Bergen Street) or Williamsburg (around the Bedford Ave. "L" subway stop). Although restaurants in New York tend to be busy, wandering around any of these areas will turn up something good. At worst, you can put in your name for a table, grab a drink at a bar around the corner, and head back for your meal an hour or so later.11
Thanks for the many ideas and recommendations.I've found a place for brunch on New Year's Day already: Garage, a jazzy place in Greenwich Village.
For NYE, I've made a shortlist of interesting looking restaurants that still have availability:
- Perilla (Italian)
- Toqueville (French)
- Crave Fish Bar (seafood)
- The Sea Grill at Rockefeller Center (seafood)
- Hearth (American)
- Amelie (French)
- Minetta Tavern (French)
Any ideas on those (or others)?
12
Take the Sea Grill out of that list, throw all the others in a hat and draw one at random.I'm kind of surprised Minetta Tavern isn't booked, it's extraordinarily popular and most famous for a very fancy hamburger.
Perilla is actually new American rather than Italian, I did not love it, but the place is very well liked.
I like Crave a lot and hope that area of midtown gets more restaurants of that quality. It maybe falls short of "special" though.
