midtown east

Lex Yard at the new Waldorf Astoria is a wonder that reinvents the legendary hotel’s stuffy old reputation

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Lex Yard at the new Waldorf Astoria is a wonder that reinvents the legendary hotel’s stuffy old reputation

The reopened Waldorf-Astoria deserved a great new Waldorf salad. Michael Anthony, chef at the hotel’s Lex Yard restaurant, goes one better. His re-invention of the 100-year-old recipe not only improves on the country-clubby original, it lives up to the entire hotel’s spectacular, oft-delayed, $2 billion transformation. Like its Art Deco surroundings, Anthony’s salad is lightened, brightened and reconstituted for a new … Read more

La Grenouille, the epitome of fine French dining, has been transformed into a delicious chain restaurant — but it still looks the same

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La Grenouille, the epitome of fine French dining, has been transformed into a delicious chain restaurant — but it still looks the same

La Grenouille, widely acknowledged as the city’s prettiest restaurant for more than a half-century, closed last fall. But its gorgeous ghost is back at 3 E. 52nd Street, where frogs’ legs have given way to Beijing-style duck. The former home of classic French cuisine has surprisingly been reborn as a location of iDen & Quanjude Beijing … Read more

NYNext Guide To: Members-Only Clubs

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NYNext Guide To: Members-Only Clubs

A recent surge in members’ clubs is reshaping New York City’s social fabric to look a lot more like London’s: Stratified and exclusive. New clubs like Maxime’s, San Vicente and Crane Club have replaced the hottest restaurants as the place where everyone wants to be seen. And legacy brands like Core and Casa Cipriani have … Read more

Camel and ‘illegal pheasant’: Welcome to NYC’s wildest Indian restaurant

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Camel and ‘illegal pheasant’: Welcome to NYC’s wildest Indian restaurant

Veerays is the best new Indian restaurant East Midtown has seen in many, many years. Chef/owner Hermant Mathur’s dishes, from familiar coconut and black pepper shrimp (an $18 starter) to rarely-served camel kebabs (a $35 main), blew me away.  But, beyond the food, Mathur and co-owner Sonny Solomon have made some strange decisions. Veerays hides behind a … Read more

‘The Frog’ is dead: Fabled NYC restaurant La Grenouille has met its long overdue end

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‘The Frog’ is dead: Fabled NYC restaurant La Grenouille has met its long overdue end

La Grenouille, the faded but once-fabulous frog of East 52nd Street, croaked for good this week. Owner Philippe Masson announced the closure on Instagram on Wednesday, posting that he was “moving on to explore new terrain and pursue other dreams,” adding that “an enormous amount of love, commitment and dedication went into making La Grenouille … Read more

NYC is having a thrilling steakhouse boom — and these are the three best steaks

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NYC is having a thrilling steakhouse boom — and these are the three best steaks

Vegan fare — from Eleven Madison Park’s plant-based menu to Superiority Burger’s meatless patties — may grab headlines, but when it comes to grabbing dinner, many New Yorkers just want a good steak. Restaurateurs know this and are eager to satisfy the city’s hunger for beef.   A herd of new steakhouses — with rockstar … Read more

NYC landlords luring workers back to offices with pickleball, golf simulators, arcade games and gourmet food

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NYC landlords luring workers back to offices with pickleball, golf simulators, arcade games and gourmet food

Forget boring office buildings with little-to-no coffee offerings, endless floors of beige cubicles and monotonous, marble-clad lobbies. Commercial landlords are wooing major tenants and their work-from-home-loving employees back to the office with unprecedented amenities — from golf simulators and rock-climbing walls to gourmet food and transcendental meditation rooms. With Manhattan vacancies at a record 21%, building owners … Read more

Jean-Georges’ new Four Twenty Five is NYC’s most beautiful and important new restaurant

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Jean-Georges’ new Four Twenty Five is NYC’s most beautiful and important new restaurant

Four Twenty Five, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s gorgeous new Park Avenue restaurant, is more than a place for prime movers to feast on charred and marinated Jurgielewicz duck breast. The jewel-box, modern-American eatery at 425 Park Avenue rides the crest of an ambitious East Midtown dining wave that includes reopened Casa Lever, David Burke’s Park Avenue Kitchen and soon-to-come new … Read more

Shed no tears for La Grenouille — it’s a tacky part-time cabaret in a funeral parlor setting

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Shed no tears for La Grenouille — it’s a tacky part-time cabaret in a funeral parlor setting

The likely imminent closure of La Grenouille — the East 52nd Street carriage house it occupies was put up for sale last week — has some crying into their soufflés and questioning the future of French dining in the city. It’s the last of the city’s original “Le” and “La” restaurants to close, following Le … Read more

Famed NYC French restaurant La Grenouille has been shut down mysteriously for 3 months

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Famed NYC French restaurant La Grenouille has been shut down mysteriously for 3 months

High-profile habitues of fabled Midtown French restaurant La Grenouille are chasing frogs’ legs and foie gras elsewhere due to a mysterious, near-three-months shutdown. Owner Philippe Masson shuttered the place when it failed a June 27 pressure test on gas pipes after new meters were installed. The fabulous frog was supposed to reopen on Sept. 7 … Read more