Finest Restaurants in Manhattan - money is no concern!

[jsp514]

I live in New York, but being a poor recent college graduate I don't have much, if at all, knowledge about fine restaurants in Manhattan. But through a family friend, I was asked to give guide to a few visitors from Korea, who supposedly belong to the uppermost class and for whom money is no concern. If it may give some hint about their affluence, they will be staying at Carlton on Madison for a week.

So it seems taking them to rowdy and folksy Korean restaurants in Midtown won't do. I don't know much about their taste, except they are visiting here for some sort of art exhibition and they enjoy good wine.

Do you guys have recommendations/suggestions as to where I should take them? A good online guide will also help- I tried citysearch.com and yelp.com, but there were just too many restaurants for me to decide.

P.S. Being ultimately tourists and probably nouveau riche, for few of the Korea's wealthiest are free from such designation, I wouldn't mind hyped restaurants for tourists either!

P.P.S. Please excuse the taunting emoticon at the left of title. I meant to put it at the end of the above P.S.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

Masa (the most expensive place in the city)
Per Se (ask the concierge at their hotel to try and get a resey)
Bouley
Le Bernardin
Danube
Del Posto
Babbo
L'Atelier de Joel Rubuchon
Le Cirque
Jean Georges
Chanterelle
Nobu

Should get you started...

 

[jsp514]

Thanks for the list, I'll check them out.

When I made the thread, I had a hunch that you might be quite an authority on this question.

 

[gdl203]

I wouldn't leave Daniel out of this list ^^^

I would also add Gotham Bar & Grill, Gramercy Tavern, Craft and Sushi Yasuda

Also, if staying at the Carlton, why not give Country a try?

 

[MrDaniels]

You might want to bone up on Korean customs before they arrive as to not shock or offend your guests-something that seems normal and innocuous to a Yank can be terribly offensive to an Asian.

The most expensive restaurant is not always the best by the way. For someone visiting America they also might want to experience something more mid-range but unique to our country, such as one of the better steakhouses like Peter Luger or The Palm.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

Thanks GDL...I knew I didn't have them all.

 

[imageWIS]

For Italian: Il Mulino.

Jon.

 

[Earthmover]

Originally Posted by MrDaniels

You might want to bone up on Korean customs before they arrive as to not shock or offend your guests-something that seems normal and innocuous to a Yank can be terribly offensive to an Asian. The most expensive restaurant is not always the best by the way. For someone visiting America they also might want to experience something more mid-range but unique to our country, such as one of the better steakhouses like Peter Luger or The Palm.
going by some generalized stereotype of the Korean Nouveau riche, I would not send them to Peter Luger, no matter how good the steak is -- they will absolutely hate the service and the fact that it's out in Williamsburgh. Koreans are actually very big on french dining as the upper crusty thing to do, so I think you can't go wrong with Per Se, Daniel, Jean Georges, Bouley, Le Bernardin, etc. -- I personally think Bouley would be great because of their French country garden theme/decor, which works very well. Other than that, most of the great places were mentioned already. I don't know how well Masa would play, due to their austerity and lack of 'choice', but these are the kinds of things you can mention as caveats (for Lugers and Masa, at the very least) so at the very least they make informed choices. Edit: for steak, they may enjoy places with more stereotypical decor, such as BLT Steak, Palm and maybe even Strip House.

 

[Tarmac]

Pink Berry

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Earthmover

Edit: for steak, they may enjoy places with more stereotypical decor, such as BLT Steak, Palm and maybe even Strip House.
I think you mean less stereotypical decor? BLT Steak and Strip House don't look like a typical NY steakhouse à la Sparks, Old Homestead, Palm I/II, etc ... That may be why Strip House is my favorite steakhouse in the city - it is actually a pleasant place! Their meat is great too...

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

Pink Berry
Well they have the original (Red Mango) already back home - and the NY Red Mango might even be open when they visit...

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by SoCal2NYC

Masa (the most expensive place in the city)
Per Se (ask the concierge at their hotel to try and get a resey)
Bouley
Le Bernardin
Danube
Del Posto
Babbo
L'Atelier de Joel Rubuchon
Le Cirque
Jean Georges
Chanterelle
Nobu

Should get you started...
Good list with the addition of Daniel's. I'm not a fan of Gramercy Tavern or Gotham Bar and Grill.

 

[MrDaniels]

Originally Posted by Earthmover

going by some generalized stereotype of the Korean Nouveau riche, I would not send them to Peter Luger, no matter how good the steak is -- they will absolutely hate the service and the fact that it's out in Williamsburgh.
Hmmm...my next reccomendation was going to be Sammy's Roumanian....not a good choice?

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by JayJay

I'm not a fan of Gramercy Tavern or Gotham Bar and Grill.

Really??? I think both are consistently better than Danube (for Austrian, WallsÃ

kicks Danube's ass any day), Del Posto or Nobu. After dining twice at each, I actually find Gramercy Tavern better than Bouley

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Really??? I think both are consistently better than Danube (for Austrian, WallsÃ

kicks Danube's ass any day), Del Posto or Nobu. After dining twice at each, I actually find Gramercy Tavern better than Bouley
I've been to most of the restaurants listed only once, Gotham twice. However, there was something about Gotham and Gramercy that didn't create a longing to return.