egganddart, I think you meant DD?

We were recently in Manhattan for a week and went on a food odyssey... dined all over the place. Of all the places we ate, my favorite was lunch at the bar room at the Modern. Food was just amazing and the atmosphere is hip and cool and from a creative standpoint very inspiring. My favorite dish was a mushroom soup served with chorizo wontons -a very unusual combination... I'm still dreaming about it.

We are possibly raising a food snob as well. Here are some pics of my beautiful DD at the restaurant. One about to enjoy a wonderful dessert and the other in the COED bathroom!! so NYC.

There is a seperate entrance from MOMA but it is also connected to MOMA so might be considered touristy but it is a Danny Meyer restaurant so you know the food will be good and the decor is (as stated) very very cool.

Here is a link that might be useful: menu for the bar room... mushroom soup is still on there

link to their website

Here is a link that might be useful: The Modern

love this post. me and dh are going to nyc next week for one night get away and i'm also looking for a cool atmosphere/great food place!!! keep them coming!

Trailrunner, my DH, and I had a wonderful dinner at Thalia back in November. We'd eat there again in a heartbeat!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thalia NYC

What beautiful pictures! And that dessert looks right up her alley. Thanks, the menu looks perfect, and she'd love the modern, hip atmosphere.

What didn't occur to me at the time was that kids raised this way have a high standard to maintain. No pre-grated parmeggiano for them, it must be stravecchio Reggiano, and freshly grated!

Another cute (to me) anecdote: Baby DD had no interest in solid food for the longest time until one day when I was eating local goat cheese with spinach. She crawled over and climbed up into my lap, and ate it heartily. That was her first solid food. (I'm getting nostalgic, since she's going away to college in a few months....) :0(

I crossed posts with gglks and cat mom. Mamadadapaige, I was referring to your pictures and recommendation.

Robin, thanks for the suggestion. I remember you guys posting about it after you went. I'll pass it along to DD.

LOL egganddart... I am squarely responsible for the high food standard in our house... no pre-grated parm for me either! LOVE the story of DD's first meal!

gglks, another place we ate and just loved was Nobu Restaurant. He is another luminary in the food/restaurant industry. His place downtown at one point was impossible to get in to. He has opened a place in midtown and we walked right in. There is a reason for his fame. His food is amazing and the space is just ultra cool, just over the top in a NYC kind of way. We don't really have that type of "concept" restaurant in Boston the way they do in NYC.

If you go, get the Tempura- so so different than any tempura I've had before. We also LOVED the Sashimi salad.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nobu

oh, one other place to consider... Perilla. It is chef owned by Harold Dieterle. He was the Season I winner of Top Chef and has opened his restaurant in NYC. I am DEVOTED to Top Chef. Haven't missed a single episode since it began... absolutely love the creative challenges they encounter and the resourcefulness displayed to get the job done, and THE FOOD!

anyway, if any of you are also Top Chef devotee's this might be an option.

btw, he had all his table tops made by Grothouse Lumber. The place I (and many other GW'ers ) had my island top made.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perilla

DH is the Executive Chef at Blue Fin Restaurant at the W Hotel Times Square. I must say his food is wonderful, great sushi, fish, salads, steak!! The atmosphere is fun, very busy for pre theatre, then slows down a bit after 7:45. The W hotel is a cool scene too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Fin

www.peterluger.com

Thanks everyone. Of course now I wish it were me going!

Mamadadapaige, we don't have cable so I never see any of these shows people talk about. I'd like to see Top Chef. Maybe I can find it online.

There was a great piece in the NYT recently about how restaurants in NY are becoming much more accommodating. The link is below for an FYI. It's probably a good time to get into places that would have been more difficult even a few short months ago.

Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Restarants Stop Playing Hard to Get

A good basic American style food establishment that we've tried when visiting was Joe Allen's. We especially remember the service because we teasingly told our daughter she really didn't need to drink yet another soft drink with her meal and the waiter brought her a PINT of milk. He told her when she emptied the glass she could have a soda. Needless to say she filled up on the milk. I guess they really don't get too many children in NYC restaurants and he really seemed to enjoy playing around with my 10 year old. My favorite NYC meal though is breakfast at Balthazar's. You must have reservations though.

Here is a link that might be useful: joe allen

This place is good for all meals. Up on the upper west side though. Just a short rise on the 1,2,3, or 9!

File it away if you have a kid who wants to go to Columbia or Barnard, or you have business in that neighborhood. It's a great brunch or business spot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Community food and juice

Growlery, the name of this restaurant is enough for me to want to go. For years I worked in community food collectives and coops, and I'm still a sucker for businesses with straightforward names like this.

Elizpiz, thanks for the link. It's sad for the restaurants. Good for the eaters, though.

Gramercy tavern is one of my favorites, well located.

you can also find a lot of suggestions on the chowhound.com forums

opentable.com can help you see how busy the place is and what time you can get a table

thanks mamadadapaige. we were thinking of nobu but i wasn't sure about getting in. i'll give it a try......

ps, your dd is ADORABLE. beside eating fine food, she is sitting like a little lady. i have two boys who i wouldn't dream of taking to a nice nyc restaurant as they can only seem to sit still for about five minutes, tops!

gglks, Thank you! She is sort of like a mini adult... we can take her anywhere. My 3 year old DS, another story entirely. Fortunately he slept through the whole lunch in his stroller and awoke as we were paying the check. It was a gamble, but worked out fine bringing him since he slept through the whole thing!

Have a GREAT time in NYC. definitely try Nobu.

Funny I just saw this thread...I took the train down to NYC Friday and met a bunch of my old college roomates in mid-town. We had a GREAT dinner at Landmarc (the one at the Time Warner Center @ Columbus Circle...although I thought the one in Tribeca was had a cooler atmosphere). Not only was the food great, but I was tickled pink that ANDERSON COOPER was two booths away eating. I never thought I would be a celebrity stalker, but I have to admit, I think I walked past his booth to the bathroom three times ;) (oh, and Kevin Spacey was filming a movie right when I got off Amtrak...again, star-struck!)

Anyway, Landmarc was good--and we got a bottle of wine to split and steaks/seafood and we each paid $44 with tip included.
:)
Sarah

(Oh...and a cool place for drinks is this little chi-chi place called the Hudson Hotel only a block away from the Time Warner Center--it's unmarked, and BEAUTIFUL inside...but I think the drink prices are a little steep...a plain Coke--maybe six ounces?--and a glass of the house Pinot was $19!!)

:)
Sarah

Hi,
We eat in NYC all the time and yesterday went to Blue Smoke (E. 27th) and it was great for brunch or delicious comfort/barbeque food. Also jazz in the evening.
Other favorites downtown are:
Il Buco-Mediterrean with amazing atmosphere
Peasant-Italian with great open kitchen
Dos Caminos Soho
Lupa-Italian
Chelsea: Cookshop-great food in season
The Red Cat-
Upper East Side: Etas Unis
Great Burgers_Shake Shack-Upper West Side and Madison Square Park
There are so many it's hard to pick! Enjoy!

one night is just not enough!!!! we are staying in midtown so maybe we can do both lunch and dinner.....

did i read that correctly.....your husband is a chef??????? lucky you!!!!! how cool!!!!! does he cook at home???

Thanks everyone. I'm keeping this list so I can check some of these out myself. It's nice to get personal recommendations.

gglks, have a great time!

egganddart49---thanks! i always get nervous before we leave the kids but once i'm at my destination, it's a well needed break for me and dh! i'm getting excited! i'll let everyone know where we ended up going how it turns out.....

gglks! Yes, you read correctly. He's a chef and he loves to cook at home. Unfortunately he's always working!! And he works at night. But on his two days off he cooks at home, and I become the sous chef.

Have a great getaway. Where are you staying?