Destination New York.
Great place, since years I like it to be here, Manhattan is packed with stress and trouble, politics, cranes and money things. Building works at the huge Hudson Yards project, on the west side of the island, are storming ahead, turning disused docks into exciting residential quarters with shopping centres and restaurants. Exciting openings are squeezing into every corner of the island, which is filling up and spilling into the other boroughs.
All this means that New York City is not only cool and great, things are moving.
But the St. Regis is still the St. Regis.
A bit of the finest expressions of service, each moment spent within walls reveals bespoke attention to every desire. The rich heritage, dating back more than 100 years to the grand opening of The St. Regis® New York by the esteemed Astor family, is evoked throughout every hotel – from the century-old butler service to the tradition of fresh flowers established by “The” Mrs. Astor. Yet no tradition is as vigilantly honored as the Astor family’s desire to treat guests of the hotel as though they were personal guests in the Astor’s own home. The St. Regis staff is committed to delivering this promise in every moment of every stay. The lobby of this Beaux-Arts hotel, is a compact marble space that bustles with top-hatted doormen escorting guests to and from their cabs, porters loading luggage on handcarts, the concierge staff working the phones.
There was a large bedroom and a much larger living room, both dotted with what look to be genuine antiques and large, wonderfully florid pieces of furniture, separated by a hallway long enough that you’d have to shout to be heard from one room to another.
In the resto we had lobster bisque, monkfish with lentils, banana tart and chocolate that resembled a Calder mobile at Lespinasse.
The food and the elegant restaurant were just amazing, relaxing, yummmy….great.
Resto tip #2: “Per Se”
It hold three Michelin stars, generally regarded as the top resto in America.
“Per Se” resides on the fourth floor of the smart Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle.
Its private dining room has an attractive view over Central Park and seats up to 11 diners.
During our visit $295 for the nine-course tasting menu; $185 for the five-course menu, available at lunch only.
Per Se is noted for its intricate tasting menus of carefully crafted dishes.
The service is faultless, the staff supported by a sophisticated system that records guests’ every preference. If a diner is left-handed or has a particular ingredient like or dislike, these details will automatically be taken into account upon the next visit. One couple visited Per Se after their honeymoon, and were taken aback that the waiter at Per Se knew exactly what they had eaten before and the staff prepared an entirely different set of dishes for this meal.
The restaurant has a famously wide repertoire, but a menu might include “oysters and pearls,” a clever dish of sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and Sterling White sturgeon caviar, the elements of the dish combining perfectly served in a Limoges porcelain dish.
The same care and attention goes into the seafood dishes, such as tender Nova Scotia lobster, served with pea tendrils and sweet carrot emulsion that balance the lobster’s richness. “Coffee and doughnuts,” which consists of intensely flavored coffee semifreddo with steamed milk, paired with a silky cinnamon sugared beignet, makes for a nice finish.
Even over a multicourse menu, the cooking technique never falters: The tightly run kitchen at Per Se produces an unusually consistent standard. The combination of exquisitely crafted food with flawless and discreet service is a winning combination. If you are looking for a sophisticated private dining experience in New York, you will find none better than Per Se.
Lovely.
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem are must-do’s…nowadays you should go to Queens, to discover the arty neighbourhood of Long Island City. Whatever you do, get to NYC soon, before it changes beyond recognition. Things are moving that fast, one of my new districts: Long Island City…
We are in no hurry to go anywhere, the big apple will always be big.
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Photos: Francois Oisterhuizen & Jens Hoffmann
