2004

When I lived in a penthouse over the Y on East 47th Street, I dined at La Mediterranee two or three times a week. Van Johnson and Dominick Dunne were also regulars.

The best thing about the experience is the piano playing of an ageless-generian Frenchman. One night, the usual, tip-filled vase had been replaced with a small American flag. All evening he played American standards instead of the usual French repertoire. Towards the end of the evening, he stood up and, with tears in his eyes, announced that he had become an American citizen that day. We all cheered…and teared.

This is one of my favorite places in town and not just because they keep a jar of pimento-stuffed, giant, Spanish olives under the bar for my martinis.

La Mediterranee, 947 Second Ave. 212-755-4155. Checkered tablecloths, Mediterranean murals, and splendid bouillabaisse make this a meal to remember. Lunch, dinner daily, brunch Sat-Sun. Payment: AE, D, DC, MC, V
Cost/Price: $$$

Shun Lee Palace. Thirty years ago, I was introduced to Shun Lee Palace and its owner, Michael Tong, by another old friend, Bruce Bolton. Bruce was a society caterer who hobnobbed with the jet set, and who often came to The Point as a guest of our cooking school. My favorite memory is of Bruce, decked out in full dress kilt, sitting at the head of one of the round, dining room tables (wherever Bruce sat, it was the head), saying, “Ask me anything.” Dear Bruce is now in the big kitchen in the sky, and surely making the adventurer richer for everyone.

As for Shun Lee Palace, I dine there every time I visit NYC. It is one of the very few Chinese restaurants in the world without paper lanterns and fluorescent lighting. Forbes reviews it as follows:
For decades Michael Tong has been providing New Yorkers with some of the finest Szechwan/Cantonese cuisine outside of Hong Kong. In a city where most people's taste for Chinese food has been dulled by too many nights of mediocre takeout, a trip to Shun Lee Palace will remind you of its glories. While everything on the menu is excellent, the Peking duck is probably the restaurant's signature dish and must be ordered in advance. It's worth it. (Ted: Actually you don’t have to order the duck in advance, and it’s the best I’ve had anywhere.)
155 East 55th Street (Between Lexington & Third Avenues) Midtown. Phone: (212) 371-8844; Fax: (212) 752-1936. Reservations necessary

Another of my favorite favorites is Grifone. It has the full cadre of staff each in appropriate uniform--something that harkens back a generation or two. On my first visit, my second Negroni had me nervously imagining that this must be the haunt of the most senior Dons in the city, but it is the friendly and gracious service provided by the long-serving staff, and the absolutely delicious food, that inspire the regular patrons to dress for the occasion. Ristorante Grifone, just west of Second Avenue on 46th Street. Tell them I sent you. 212-490-7275.

Mariana Hoppin is a foodie’s foodie, is on two-cheek-kissing basis with every great chef in the world, and always knows which restaurant is going to break out. I hadn’t been at La Goulue for more than seven years when it was up the street and around the corner. We were strategically placed in the best table for viewing, and chuckled our way through one of the best lunches in NYC as we spied buddies around the room. I love the little scratch pads that look like matchbooks—perfect for table-hopping, number-networking. La Goulue, 746 Madison Ave. (bet. 64th & 65th Sts), 212-988-8169, open every day serving lunch, dinner, and Sunday Brunch. By the time you read this, their new restaurant, La Cicala at Lex and 64th, will have opened with a bang!

P.J. Clarke’s is an institution. A funny, little, red brick, two-story building, it stands resolutely; elbowed in by soaring, glass office blocks. My father brought me here the same day he bought me my first Abercrombie and Fitch tweed jacket. It was like coming of age; I was twelve. During prep school vacations. We’d come “slumming” here in our dinner jackets after a debutant ball at the St. Regis. A generation later, I remember Jackie O had her own teeny table—she worked around the corner. The walls are brick or smoked pine, the menu’s chalked on boards, and it still has the best bacon cheeseburger, onion strings, and Bloody Mary in town for $25. 915 Third Ave, 10022, 212-317-1616.

This one needs a bit of an introduction:
I moved downtown next to the World Trade Center on Sept 1, 2001. I was in my apartment the morning of the 11th, ran out the back door when the first tower came down, and was not able to return for 3 months. When I did, new friends took me to Nam, a cute little restaurant serving variations of Vietnamese cuisine. It had been slated to open on the 11th of September, but opened in October instead. Stephen, the owner, gave everyone free desserts to build a clientele in the most awful of times. I loved it; the food was delicious, the staff cute and friendly, and the atmosphere family-like.

Before September 11th, TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) had been the fastest growing, hottest place to live. After September 11th, we called it TriBeCa-stan, and prayed that it and the rest of New York would survive; many businesses didn’t. Then, one day Nam was jammed! Had I seen New York Magazine? The place was featured! Two weeks later, The New York Times reviewed it. Two weeks after that, I found myself sitting next to Charlie Rose. The place was booked solid for days in advance but for those of us who had been regulars in those tough early days, Stephen always finds a seat. Call him at 212-267-1777 and tell him you’re a friend. You’ll love it. 110 Reade Street, just off West Broadway.

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