Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3122
Loc: Chicago
|
|
After the traditional debate over spending it in Tampa at her parents house or in Houston at my parents house, we've decided to punt and spend Thanksgiving in New York this year. We may be staying at the Westin New York Times Square based on availability and cost. We have a reservation at Jean Georges for Thanksgiving Dinner and are considering the following for other meals: Le Cirque 2000, Daniel, Gotham Bar & Grill and Tavern on the Green. Any feedback on the Hotel or any of these or other restaurants? Any other hotel suggestions?
Also, we're trying to get tickets to either: Rent, Chicago, The Producers, etc. Any feedback on Broadway shows? Any advice on cozy places for a cocktail?
Thanks,
Dennis
|
Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
|
|
I can't help you with Hotels because I stay with family when Im there..and those restaurant places you mentioned are all pretty good...we loved Lutece's for 5 star dining but they closed up and moved to the Venetian in Vegas.....however...for down and dirty, but incredibly good, blue collar "real" New Yorker food...let me suggest that you cant leave NY without eating in a deli..eating pizza...or going to an original bar.....for pizza...Rays on 7th Ave or Johns on Bleecker Street ...they are quite simply the best in the world - bar none .....for deli....Katz's Deli on Houston Street ( pronouced house - ton, not Houston )...nothing else is in their league for good kosher deli.....for a bar....McSorleys Old Ale House
( I drank there when women were banned from the place, til it got overturned in court in the early 70's...but thats another story )...its older then dirt and was there before the Indians sold the island to white man
add BarVetro on 58th Street to your list of upper end restaurant choices...its very good Italian and thats coming from one fussy Italian who would only eat Italian at Tonys on Post Oak Street when I lived in Houston.....
you must have a Sabrett Hot Dog from the street corner vendors...thats as much a part of being a New Yorker as anything else...and throw in a potato knish and maybe some roasted chestnuts too while you re at it...and maybe take a cab down to Little Italy and have an espresso and a cannoli from Ferraros on Mott Street
enjoy....T Day in NYC is a special treat that I miss dearly
--------------------
karma is a beautiful thing at times
|
Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3122
Loc: Chicago
|
|
Thanks, Miker
Ray's is already on the list...love that place! Already planning on the typical tourist evening of a carraige ride through the Park with some roasted chestnuts...just hoping the horse hasn't had a helping of "Beef-a-rino"!
Ah...Tony Mandola..anything his family ran in Houston was good for me!
|
Kara Brooks
Reged: 09/30/02
Posts: 1394
|
|
Thanksgiving in NYC (as opposed to turkey day at our house yet again) sounds so great. Jean Georges will be fantastic.
My personal favorite NYC restaurant at the moment is Beppe (212-982-8422). Really pretty and amazingly good Italian food - the octopus "salami" is outrageous. Another one of our favorite NYC things are the oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar (downstairs in Grand Central). It is a classic. Sit at the counter. A dozen oysters and a Brooklyn lager has to be one of life's great pleasures. To save a few bucks you might want to try DB Bistro in lieu of Daniel (both Boulud restaurants). The bouillabaisse is the best I have ever had anywhere (but I think it is only available one day a week - perhaps Fridays). We are also fans of Town. - really jazzy, fun place. Sunday brunch at Balthazar is another great bet but make your reservations after noon if you want to order a bloody mary (try the oyster mary and the eggs poached in red wine - so good). I would personally give Tavern on the Green a miss. It really has a tourist only reputation.
On the hotel front, we are fans of the W Tuscany in Murray Hill. It is a great location - Park and East 39th and the rooms are huge by New York City standards. It is on a fairly quiet street, a few blocks from Grand Central (and those great oysters), and located in a renovated pre war apartment building.
As far as the theater, we saw Rent when it first opened years ago and loved it. A few years later, however, we saw some guy from the Backstreet Boys I believe butcher one of the songs during the Broadway on Broadway performance so I am not at all confident that it is still the same quality show. I have heard great things about Wicked. One of the stars of Wicked - Idina Menzel - starred in the original production of Rent as Maureen (and even more idle Broadway gossip: Menzel is now married to Taye Diggs who was also in the original cast of Rent). Just a thought.
--------------------
Kara Brooks
|
Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3122
Loc: Chicago
|
|
Thanks Kara!
I'm trying to steer away from Tavern on the Green for just the reasons you mention...I'm getting push-back...
We love oysters so Grand Central sounds fun.
We're coming home Saturday so Sunday Brunch will have to wait 'till another time.
|
Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
|
|
I had completely forgotten about Grand Central Oyster...yes..yes....I second that.....Kara if you like Beppes, you will also like Bar.Vetro as well....I was quite impressed with it....very chic and yet very Italian....
I'm in heaven in the kitchen on T Day....I go nuts with it....its such a great day ....LOL
--------------------
karma is a beautiful thing at times
|
Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
|
|
oh take her to Tavern On the Green....yes its touristy but its still kind of nice and I can think of far worse touristy places to go in NYC....like Mama Leones...LOL
oh and its Tony Vallone I was referring to in Houston
Edited by Mike R (11/09/04 01:05 PM)
|
Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3122
Loc: Chicago
|
|
Tony Vallone...right...my bad.
I cooked T-day last year for my wife's family...WHEW! What a production...so much to coordinate at once. Awesome when it's pulled off correctly!
|
Erma
Reged: 10/05/02
Posts: 515
Loc: North Georgia
|
|
Quote:
for a bar....McSorleys Old Ale House ( I drank there when women were banned from the place, til it got overturned in court in the early 70's...but thats another story
quite surprising coming from a man with such love of women :-) ....I guess back then you needed a break every once in a while !!!
Ah, to have known the 70's...too bad I was only a toddler...
Best regards, Erma
|
Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
|
|
Erma...back then I was a confused 17 year old with a fake ID ( it was 18 to drink then ) whose need for a good beer and a liverwurst on rye ( both of which Mc Sorleys was famous for) was almost as strong as whatever aspirations I had for whatever women I happened to come across in my travels.....had I known then what I know now....LOL....but the whole "womanization" of McSorlys was a major deal then....front page news and all...and they agreed to let women in ( after the court order) but only on the contingency that the one bathroom they had would remain and they would not install a ladies room...they were able to pull this off, I believe, because the bar truly is/was an original building and with historical status.....I havent been there in quite some time but I would imagine there is now a ladies room in the establishment
--------------------
karma is a beautiful thing at times
|
NYCFred
Reged: 01/06/04
Posts: 6092
Loc: NYC
|
|
What? no PARADE?
if you're here wednesday nite, head up to Central Park West and 79th st...it's the backstage view of the parade...all the balloons are laid out on the closed streets, being blown up for the parade the next day...kinda a big neighborhood party....
also, lots of new restaurants, some REALLY high end, at the new Time Warner center at columbus Circle...
check out Zagat.com...you can review restaurants by neighborhood.
--------------------
I go for the Q-tips.
|
Kara Brooks
Reged: 09/30/02
Posts: 1394
|
|
There is also a good bar in the Time Warner complex-- Stone Rose. It is another Randy Gerber bar. Speaking of the Time Warner restaurants, I was just checking the availability for Per Se -- for January 2005 -- and it's booked!
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Thanksgiving in NY
Edit
Reply
Quote
[Re: 