Per Se
Per Se overlooks Columbus Circle and the southwest entrance to Central Park. The restaurant opened in 2004 in the Time Warner Center with a wood-burning fireplace; understated, elegant décor; and chef-owner Thomas Keller, creator of Napa Valley's French Laundry, in charge. Per Se serves nine-course vegetarian and chef's tasting menus for $275 and a five-course lunch menu on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for $175. Dinner reservations are available from 5:30 to 10 p.m. and are taken two months in advance. Jackets are required.
Per Se is all but impossible to get into without a reservation. There is extremely limited seating and the kind of personal attention that takes time. The food, in small tasting portions, is an event. Each dish is created to delight the eye and surprise the palate, with a few simple ingredients exquisitely and imaginatively prepared.
Per Se
10 Columbus Circle (at 60th Street)
Time Warner Center, 4th floor
New York , NY 10023
212-823-9335
perseny.com
The Modern
Dine overlooking the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in the Modern, a Danny Meyer-owned restaurant (like Union Square Café) that turns food into contemporary art---with flavor. Executive chef Gabriel Kreuther offers a three-course prix fixe menu for $88, an artisanal cheese cart (with desserts) for $21 and a full tasting menu for $125.
Try ravioli of escargot with slow-poached quail eggs, escargot caviar and mustard greens, or free range poussin with wood ear mushrooms and linden blossom jus. Or how about a poached farm-fresh egg with artichoke purée, honshimeji mushrooms and pimento nage? You get the picture. Bring your superbly honed personal taste---and make a reservation.
The Modern
Museum of Modern Art
9 W. 53rd St. (between Fifth and Sixth avenues)
New York, NY 10019
212-333-1220
themodernnyc.com
Rao's
You can wait a year to reserve one of the 10 tables in Rao's for unbeatable Neapolitan cuisine and bragging rights that you've actually managed to eat there. It's a warm, charming, tiny place in East Harlem and caters to lifelong regulars. The food is home-style ziti, baked clams, lasagna or lemon chicken, and there are amazing sauces. With one seating per evening, you get plenty of attention, not much elbow room and a good chance of sharing space with a celebrity. Martin Scorsese is a fan---but just one among many. Dress your best, bring cash and forget about weekends. Rao's is only open Monday through Friday.
Rao's Restaurant
455 E. 114th St.
New York, NY 10025
212-722-6709
raos.com
Article Written By Benna Crawford
Benna Crawford has been a journalist and New York-based freelance writer since 1997. Her work has appeared in "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "The Miami Herald," on CBS, CNN, ABC and in professional journals, trade publications and blogs. Crawford is a certified Prana Yoga instructor, currently studying green nutrition.
