I'm heading to NYC April 14th through the 16th on business. I'd like to stay over the weekend and fly Mrs. WIML in for the weekend. I'd like to do some touristy stuff, stay at a moderate hotel, moderate to expensive meals with wine, a show.

Anybody have hotel recommendations, favorite restaurants, shows I can still get tickets to? Open to all options at this late date.

Thanks in advance everybody.

The Marriott Eastside (53rd and Lexington, I believe) is nice. For a great French steakhouse, try Les Halles on Park Ave between 28th and 29th. Directly across the street is Park Bistro. We love both of those places. For a romantic little place with good food where you can bring your own wine, you might try Table d'Hote on 92nd Street, two doors east of Madison Avenue.

If you feel like a truly great meal at a relatively expensive restaurant with a great wine list priced decently, you could try our favorite restaurant in the world, La Cote Basque on W. 55th Street. There are loads of famous places to go: Grammercy Tavern, Chanterelle, La Cirque, Tribecca Grill, Daniel, and many others. I'm not a big fan of Vongerichten's restaurants, though many are.

If you want great French seafood, try Le Bernardin, expensive but probably the best seafood restaurant in the country by reputation. For inexpensive Italian seafood, there's Umberto's in little Italy. For truly cheap and great Chinese food, in Chinatown, try Wo-Hop at 15 and 17 Mott Strett. I prefer 15 slightly to 17. If you decide to go there, you must let me know and I'll tell you the best dishes to order. I've been there over 800 times.

Got them down Board-0. I'll start "researching" and post back.

I stay at either the Stanhope or the Essex House when I'm in NYC. The Stanhope is a lovely, old, art nouveau boutique hotel with wonderful furnishings and a good restaurant. They also have patio dining out on the sidewalk and it's across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Essex House is a wonderful old art deco thing. A lot larger than the Stanhope but the rooms are just as beautiful - very peaceful colors and very nice textures. I got probably the best Swedish massage of my life in their spa - the masseur was this older white guy with such a large beer gut, I wasn't sure how he would reach me, but damn he was good. Essex House has a very cool bar/smoking lounge, if memory serves.

Then I go get my hair done at Bumble & bumble over on Lex. I true "New York" kind of hair salon.

I love New York.

If you like dim sum may I suggest HSF at 60 Bowery in Chinatown. It isn't a huge cim sum parlor like some of the places in SF or even in NY, but it has great dim sum and is one of the very best in the city. Lines form on Sunday (the best day for dim sum anywhere you go) but the wait is well worth it to any dim sum lover.

Another place we go when in NY for Italian that is just a family type joint with great pastas is Tutta Pasta on Carmine St. in the village. Nothing fancy but if the weather is nice it is fun to wander the Village before or after dinner.

Obviously go to TKTS to see what half price tickets you can get for a show. There might not be anything you want to see, but then again, there might be something that is just what you want.

For a splurge, make a reservation for brunch at the Plaza on Sunday. It will cost you, but it is a great brunch.

If you are into buying jewelry, go to the gold district (arount 47th St on the West side I think) but don't go on Saturday as many of the vendors are observant Jews and will not be there. You can haggle and get some very good deals. (Never argue price, argue price per gram for gold)

Hve a great time. I'll leave the fancy restaurant recommendations to others. Oh yeah, Murray's Cheese on Bleeker Street (yes the same street from the S and G song) in the Village, not the one in Grand Central Station, is a lot of fun if you are into cheese.

Union Square Cafe is good for lunch... we like John's Pizza in Times Sq for an inexpensive lunch- brick oven pizza in a great atmosphere.
(was featured on the Food network, its in a beautiful old church)
Chelsea Market at 9th/15th is great if you love food- many chefs shop there for bread, desserts, produce,seafood, etc... plus Chelsea wine valut is one of the shops in there... great for lunch, too.
If you like casual/Funky, Serendipity 2 has a huge menu, great burgers and their famous desserts and Frozen Hot Chocolate... near Bloomingdales... also featured in movie Serendipity.
concierge.com often has good NYC hotel prices.
Sat mornmings the Union Square Outdoor Market is always fun.

I lived in Manhattan for 6 years and moved at the end of '99 and have some suggestions. Many of the previous suggestions have been excellent so I won't repeat any of them. In terms of the elite restaurants, they pretty much speak for themselves so I will be posting about slightly less known places.

If you want pizza, I would suggest Lombardy's on Spring and Mulberry. Far better than John's and far better atmospere. They also have a great beer selection (never had wine there so I can't comment). If you go to John's I would strongly recommend going to the Bleecker Street one rather than the Times Square or West Side (if it still exists) outpost. Tottono's on the upper east side also has great pizza although by reputation not as good as its Coney Island original locale.

For Italian, a less stuffy and intimate excellent place is Caffe Trevi on 1st Avenue in the 80s, the owner/host Primo is a great guy and the mushrooms there are incredible. Price is moderate. Complimentary fried zucchini is also always to die for.

If you want sushi, there are a number of options. Obviously Nobu. Some excellent QPR places are Tomoe Sushi on Thompson street just south of Bleecker and Kitaro on First Avenue around 71 Street. The multiple Yama's are alwaya a popular choice.

I have had many fine meals at Frontiere as well on Spring (or is it Prince)?

Hotels: Cannot help (for the obvious reasons).

Restaurants: There are over 22,000 places to eat in NYC. So, I am not going to confuse you further. Others have plenty of suggestions. But, on the elite-level, consider Daniel, Jean Georges, Felidia, Le Bernardin, Les Celebrities, etc...

The following are very nice places, but I do not recommend as you can go to the above places: March, Le Cirque 2000, Blue Water Grill (not any more).

But, for Dessert, the single best place is Payard’s. I spent a lot of time looking for Dessert places in NYC. This is the only 1 that I keep going back to. By the way, Daniel is a silent partner. And, the Coffee is drinkable. Which is very rare in NYC. If interested, can get info.

Shows: This is short notice, yes. Otherwise I would have looked into ½-price tickets for you. But, I need @ least 6-8 weeks notice. I can get ½-price tickets to a lot of shows. I will check. But I recommend (in that order) since you only have a few days:

Les Mis (recommend as 1st, because it is closing down & 1 of the best shows).
Phantom
Lion King
Mamma Mia!

Off-Broadway:
I Love You, You Are Perfect, Now Change

...But will keep my eyes open for those ½-price tickets for you.

wineismylife: I handle all of the Ent. Advertising for The Star-Ledger and I have some good discount ticket offers I got by email... pm me if you would like me to forward them to you...there is an offer for a new show I want to see w/ Helen Hunt/John Turturro...

WOW! Everybody really came to the rescue! And you people know how to eat...I've already received over 30 restaurant recommendations. Outstanding. I appreciate all of the information everybody passed along. If you have more you want to PM me that would be great. Thanks alot everybody.

...and if you're up for sharing a few glasses / bottles at Morrell's, I'm sure we can conjure up some support!

Also, if you have a free night, check out the Lincoln Center for some events (i.e. Opera or a Philharmonic, Ballet). All 3 are some of the best that the world has to offer.

Man, there is so much to do in that City... and I know people that live in NJ or Brooklyn or the surrounding area, & never, eever take advantage of what NY has to offer. They don't even go to NY.

Just before you go, pick up a copy of the New Yorker and see what is going on in town at the clubs, etc. I'm sure that even in Texas you can get a copy.

FWIW, I have always found NY Magazine to be more accurate and up to date regarding listings than the New Yorker.

Depending on your age and what you are into, Time Out NY might be more your speed as well.

Short, an offline? Drinking wine? Don't know if I can handle that one! I guess I need to start planning some of this out with Mrs WIML to see how things are going to schedule out, more or less.

i'll chime in as i just got back from NY. as board-o mentioned, les halles. we always hit the one downtown about three blocks from WTC after work, always get a seat, and the wines are interesting. second, while he mentioned the marriott east side, i cannot recommend the beds. they are soft, unsupportive, and i always end up with a backache. in fact, i recommended that to marriott, upgrade the mattress!!! dame frankie just came back from ny all week, and she told me of a small italian ristorante in a neighbourhood (not a chain), she loved it, ate there three times. if you're interested, i'll get the name. lastly, i always go to the restaurant HOME when i'm there. the proprietors are great, food and appetisers are always enjoyable, and they have a back patio which should be open now for al fresco dining. i love NY.

Some more restaurant reco's to confuse you:

AZ (Sexy WOW room, will impress the lady, excellent food)
db Bistro Modern (can get out a little cheaper than Daniel)
Nobu (sit at the sushi bar, must order Black Cod w/ Miso!)
Eleven Madison Park (Danny Meyer's best restaurant)
Gotham Bar & Grill (An institution)

Cheap Eats
Casimir (So-so service, but great steak frites for $16)

If you go to Morrels, you better let us know.

jb

If I go to Morrel's I'll post it to the site in advance of the trip and let everybody know. Hopefully we can get together for a "couple" of glasses.

wiml, let us know. I can't get away Tuesday, but Monaday or Wednesday afternoon/evening are distinctly possible.

For inexpensive but great food, I re-iterate Wo-Hop, but I forgot one other. On Prince Street is a little bistro called Bistro Margot. The food is always good and both the food and wine are inexpensive. If you go and the weather's nice, ask to be seated in the garden out back.

By the way, I prefer the Les Halles on Park Ave to the one on John St, but the difference is minimal.

The Eastside Marriott is indeed a nice place to stay. We also stayed at the Stanhope, which is well-located if you plan on doing some museums. It is also only a few blocks walk from Cafe Bolud (yum! but pricey).

I'd certainly recommend db Bistro Moderne, you can definitely get out of there more cheaply than Daniel or Cafe Bolud. Plus it is a very relaxed atmosphere. I would also recommend Babbo, which is an amazing place, especially if you splurge for one of their tasting menus and wine pairings. O-momma.

One bit people haven't mentioned is where to go for breakfast. I'd recommend a place called Barney GreenGrass. It is on the upper west side I believe and I am sure you can find it on the internet. The best damn orange juice I have ever had was there. Really quite good breakfast too. Plus, it's great for seeing famous folks. We saw Stanley Tucci there when we were there last. It's a bit hustle and bustle-y though.