How not to spend $20K on dinner in New York
Photo from Frank Bruni’s 2006 NYT review of Le Cirque.
From Michael Purugganan, ex-journalist, now Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics at NYU:
New York City is the city that never sleeps, where one can dine at any hour of the day on meals whose prices range from the absurdly cheap to the absurd. Clearly, the presidential entourage chose more towards the absurd end.
As a resident of the city and a foodie, maybe I can help future politicians in their hunt for places to dine and be seen (I am not sure what the priority would be, but I think I can bring the bill to below $20 K for a party of 50).
First, Le Cirque wouldn’t be my choice. Sure, that’s where celebrities tend to dine, but celebrities of the 70s and 80s—so you run into a few aging socialites there, but it is not the place to be seen. Plus it has zero Michelin stars. For truly great dining, I would have gone to Daniel or Alain Ducasse. The multicourse meal at Daniel with wine pairing and tip will cost you under $200 per person, which I think is about half of what they spent at Le Cirque, and Daniel has 2 Michelin stars.
Maybe The Spotted Pig in my neighborhood, the West Village? You can get decent gastronomic pub food and good drinks, and maybe Beyonce and Jay-Z or Drew Barrymore can stop by the table.
OK, maybe your entourage is looking for something more serious, less hipster? Just a few blocks away, Graydon Carter (editor of Vanity Fair) owns and dines at the Waverly Inn, and the place is full of media types a few generations younger than Barbara Walters.
When President Obama and his wife Michelle went to NY on a date a month or so ago, they dined at the Blue Hill Restaurant a block down from where I live. I’ve never eaten there, but I’ve checked out the menu—pretty reasonable. You can get a great meal for under $70 per person with wine, and still be in the place which was good enough for Barack and Michelle.
But if you MUST dine at Le Cirque, just remember that Le Cirque has a special tasting menu at $35 for dinner for three courses, which if you include a modest bottle of wine to share, should bring the tab to less than $60 per person. The waiter at Le Cirque should have told them about this special—could have saved everyone a lot of grief, and they can still say they had dinner there.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 11th, 2009 at 14:06
Bits of info you may or may not find interesting:
Sirio Maccioni (Le Cirque owner) mentioned in his memoir that Ferdinand Marcos used to dine at Le Cirque. He had eight bodyguards with him.
Ronald Reagan had two bodyguards.
Someone from the family of Nicaragua’s Anastasio Somoza dined there, with 12 bodyguards.
August 11th, 2009 at 15:54
Mike, Mike, how far you’ve come from early morning jumbo siopao and 12-ounce Coke from the 24-hour Kowloon House on Pasay Road!
August 11th, 2009 at 22:39
Fenring,
That was three or four wives ago, but I gather it takes time for news to reach Salusa Secundus.
August 11th, 2009 at 23:09
I would’ve picked Daniel NYC myself too. There would be an off-chance that you’d get to schmooze with Daniel Boulud himself. He seemed to be a very interesting guy from when I remembered seeing him on TV. I enjoy his passion for food.
August 11th, 2009 at 23:42
From the gossip column of a US-based newspaper (in)famous for its sensationalism to the front-page headlines and op-ed section of a “trusted” Philippine newspaper, now comes a correction from the same “trusted” broadsheet through its Twitter account (http://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet): CORRECTION: 2 news stories and an editorial mistook hypothetical Le Cirque bill for fact, a Publisher’s Note in tomorrow’s Inquirer says.
If the traditional news media wants to distinguish themselves from tabloids, blogs, and whatnot, and to remain relevant in these times, they should do their own research and fact-checking instead of rushing the presses with a mob mentality of vilifying politicians at the expense of the truth. I’m no fan of PGMA, but if the news media loses its objectivity and focus on the truth, then who else can we trust?
August 11th, 2009 at 23:55
Hey Fenring! I still maintain the siopao at Kowloon is a gastronomic delight! Have found only one place in NY Chinatown that comes close.
August 12th, 2009 at 00:00
Oh and I do have a distant connection with the NY Post (which by the way I agree is a tabloid rag). Dorothy Schiff, who donated the money that established my professorial chair at NYU, was the owner/publisher of the Post before she sold it to Rupert Murdoch. Which, actually was when it descended into true tabloid status.
August 12th, 2009 at 00:46
Oy, the Kowloon House on Pasay Road closed years ago. However we still have Ma Mon Luk.
August 12th, 2009 at 02:08
Ever tried Luk Yuen’s jumbo siopao? With a tall glass of coke,it’s heavier than a full meal. I’m thinking,did the food those bastards take in Le Cirque ever came out of their you know what? Then it’s all pointless,whether you eat hopia in the kanto or blew a hundred thousand pesos on fillet mignon,it’s gonna come out eventually,in a matter of 24 hours.
August 12th, 2009 at 08:42
Prof Purugganan, OT. I read you were part of a heretical group that seeks to come up with an update of evolutionary theory. Has the hate mail stopped yet? :-D
August 12th, 2009 at 09:55
¿Perdón? Tell me it isn’t so!
I know the big Kowloon restaurant closed in the mid-Triassic(it’s now a parking lot), but as far as I know, the siopao counter is still on the corner of Park Square One. And there’s still the Vito Cruz-South Superhighway branch.
As for Ma Mon Luk, where can I get it other than Quiapo or Banaue-Quezon Avenue? The branch in Libertad-Harrison closed 5 years ago. Besides, I never liked the Quiapo branch, too much “local color!” And the mami at that branch is gamey!
Mike, no contest, the Kowloon jumbo siopao is indeed a gastronomic delight, as well as pound-for-penny the best value around (P47)!
Speaking of which, the PVL Food Counter at Cash & Carry has a P120 jumbo siopao! Haven’t tried it yet, though. It looks like you’d need the jaws of Shai Hulud.
August 12th, 2009 at 20:19
Apparently this story isn’t about to die just yet. It’s not just the extravagance and insensitivity, but also the tackiness. They dine in packs and there’s a bag woman involved. Ugh.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/08/rs-dinner12.html
August 12th, 2009 at 23:04
Aha! We know where to take our important friend on his next visit. In return he can take us to Le Cirque. Or wherever Anderson Cooper dines regularly. (Celebrities, Michael? You recognize their existence?)
FYI, Masuki in Greenhills is the gentrified Ma Mon Luk, operated by Mr. Ma’s grandchildren.