New York Restaurant Week, Part II, or “I can’t get a Table!

Now that virtually every table for the dinner hour has been booked, what is a procrastinating foodie to do? Aside from calling in the favors of friends, the procrastinator has to think – THINK – about how to remedy a serious lack of tables for dinner.

Important Note:

It is possible to book tables on Open Table, and the site itself has links to all restaurants that use Open Table. However, there are those restaurants that don’t use Open Table. If you can’t find a dinner slot via Open Table, then call the restaurant directly and see if there are any tables. Much of what is left is of the 6PM or 10PM variety, so plan accordingly. If you suffer from acid reflux, take your purple pill as accordingly.

Check these websites for more info:

http://www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com/index.html
(easy to use)

http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/
(easy to use)

http://chinagrillmgt.com/
(not easy to use)

Restaurant Week Favorites:

For lunch, the top ranking restaurants in the city are the best bet. The prix fixe offerings afford the diner a glimpse into the kind of subtle complexities that garner praise from the NY Times and Michelin. Most of these spots are pricey and don’t have a dinner prix fixe for Restaurant Week. But if you have the time, lunch is a great time to visit Vong, Craftbar, Fiamma, Aquavit, Nobu, Tabla and others. If you don’t have the time, take a personal day from work and make that reservation. There are still lunch spots open at many of these hard-to-get-into-anyway spots.

Glam Spots:

If you can’t get a dinner reservation but have time to pop in for a cocktail (and maybe a cancellation), belly up to the bar at one of the exclusive dinner spots and take a look around. Most of the Glam Packs will be cruising the Meatpacking district. If you want to do some elbowing to get a good spot at the bar, head to the Maritime (snacks are also available here), Vento, Ono, or Spice Market.

For the More Sophisticated:

Head to Midtown where the crowds are less frenetic and the glam volume less ear piercing. Rene Pujol and the Modern might have a spot for you; Blue Fin, Blue Smoke and Compass are great places to escape the excessively pointed shoes, nasal inflections and exposed undergarments so often seen crossing the avenues of Meatpacking.

Eek! There’s nothing left!

In this case, it’s best to wait for the next installment of Restaurant Week, which now happens twice per year.

Tags:   big apple, glam, meatpacking, reservations, restaurant week, soho

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Posted on 1/23/2006 ( Permanent Link )
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