A few months ago, I received an email from Caitlin Cooper asking if I had restaurant recommendations for her boss, specifically for lunch, specifically in Midtown. She told me no rush, but of course I live to receive emails like these, so I spent the next hour or so making her a list. I interned for Caitlin’s boss, an LA-based producer, a few summers ago, which is how she and I met. One of my favorite projects I was tasked with that summer was creating a hardcover binder of restaurants to order takeout from within a certain radius of said boss’s house. Finding a restaurant to make a reservation at in New York is hard enough on its own. Add in such factors as: your boss is a foodie. Your boss is not from New York (and maybe neither are you). Your boss is meeting with other creatives who don’t want anything too flashy, but the place still needs to be nice and have good food.
This question keeps coming up. At Olivia Weiss’s birthday party a few weeks ago, I spoke to two girls who work in food media who feel that this topic could really become its own consultant-run business… It’s a different question than team dinner, which right on Franklin tackled months ago. It’s planning a lunch for your boss that you are not attending. In my orbit, it’s finding a restaurant that’s chic but not too stuffy or overtly corporate—somewhere Hollywood creatives can enjoy a leisurely business lunch at a European pace, talk through edits on a script while sipping on a cold martini, and often somewhere centrally located where the writers coming from Brooklyn can meet the producers commuting from Tribeca without taking three different trains. For people in the theater world or anyone meeting people here from out of town, it unfortunately ends up being Midtown. And there is nowhere more difficult to catch a vibe than Midtown Manhattan.
Many New York restaurants do not offer lunch, or only do so on weekends. A weekday lunch reservation is not as simple of a task as one might think. If we’re talking Midtown, there are only four restaurants I would reliably recommend:
Monkey Bar is a classic New York establishment with an old school vibe. Lunch reservations are much easier to come by than dinner reservations. It’s the perfect spot if your boss and their guests are craving a decadent burger and a stiff afternoon cocktail. Not ideal if they’re looking for something light (food-wise and vibe-wise; it’s a cavernous room with no natural light but very cool murals on the wall).
Cuerno is a sleeper hit. It’s been open less than a year and is a personal go-to of mine for a Midtown meal. It’s a large Mexican steakhouse inside the Time-Life Building at Rockefeller Center, and downstairs they have a large table that can be sectioned off into its own private room with sliding doors. Perfect for a private business meeting. I had lunch here in December and was worried the food would be too heavy, but I ordered the tortilla soup and one taco, which was the perfect midday meal.
Il Mulino (Madison) is reliable for Italian, though I have only eaten at the Greenwich Village location. From photos the uptown location looks nice and clubhouse-like inside, without using too much corporate overhead lighting. I remember the chicken parm being fantastic. Huge portions all around.
Da Toscano* bid farewell to their original space on Minetta Lane in March and randomly moved to the lobby of a hotel in Midtown? An incredibly rogue move, but I had dinner at the new location last night, and the food is no less delicious. The new menu is almost identical, and though the vibes are a bit less chill than at the previous location, I enjoyed my experience and am ultimately glad it’s near Times Square because I hate almost every single restaurant option for pre- or post-theatre (more on that topic soon…) There’s an asterisk next to it because they actually are not open for lunch, but I felt like adding it to the list anyway. It would really behoove them to open for lunch on weekdays and curate a midday Via Carota-esque ambience. They’re still in their first month of service at the new location, so perhaps lunch is on the horizon?
Moving slightly away from the Midtown hellscape… If Columbus Circle or Lincoln Center is convenient, book your boss a table at one of these three spots:
Robert is a huge, light-filled restaurant at the top of the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle. It’s usually pretty calm on a weekday. This is a go-to location for my current boss.
Marea is right next door, serving seafood-forward Italian that is incredibly overpriced, in my opinion, but if it’s on the company’s dime, would taste even better.
Café Luxembourg is a tried-and-true classic. Along with Barney Greengrass, it’s the physical embodiment of the Upper West Side. I make more reservations for my boss here than anywhere else. The food is not revolutionary, but if your lunch guests are staying near the Upper West Side, it’s kind of here or nowhere, and they will love it.
If downtown is more convenient, that’s great news:
Borgo is on the way downtown—East 27th Street. The location feels incredibly random, but once you step inside, you understand why. It’s a gorgeous, spacious, townhouse-esque setup with floor to ceiling windows and a patio in the back. It’s also one of my favorite meals in recent memory. I’d love to sit around a circular table nibbling at their perfect green salad and sharing a chilled bottle of Sancerre with executives, or managing directors, or shareholders… the like.
Manuela is the perfect destination for a “corporate” lunch for creatives. The restaurant started in LA, and both locations are filled with incredible artwork from Hauser & Wirth. It’s a huge space with a fabulous seasonal menu. Definitely book this if it’s for a group that needs to get their creative juices flowing, and make sure they know to order the biscuits.
Union Square Café is often a winner because of its convenience to many subway lines. They also have a fantastic wine list and all-day food menu. I was proud of myself for recently booking a lunch for my boss and a few other writers here.
Caffe Zaffri is also convenient to Union Square. I went for dinner recently and was not super impressed by the food, but the space is incredible and worth revisiting. I can imagine during the day it gets gorgeous light from the overhead skylight and feels like you’re dining in the lobby of a swanky European hotel.
Via Carota can be a tough one to depend on, since they primarily take walk-ins, and that typically does not fly when your boss asks you to set a concrete time and place. Unless your boss is on a first name basis with Chef Rita (as mine luckily is), it’s not an easy table to book in advance. But if you manage to get one, it’s a lovely weekday jaunt.
Anton’s is a good backup option in the West Village. It’s maybe a bit too intimate for a party larger than four, but anything around or below that number will enjoy the laidback yet classy ambience and food.
Leon’s, sister restaurant of Anton’s, is closer to Union Square and has a lovely private room, if that’s ever of interest for a more private lunch meeting.
Raf’s is at the top of my list of places to return to. It’s elegant, intimate, and the food is great. I wouldn’t expect them to be open for weekday lunch, but they are! And I’m curious to try it.
Dante is dependable and especially good if the party is drinking. I have a slight preference for the West Village location, but either one will work.
Ci Siamo is in the nightmare location of Hudson Yards, so unless you and your boss work there (in which case you probably work in real estate or at some hedge fund), I’m not sure for whom it’s convenient. But the food is genuinely great Italian and it’s the perfect elevated yet not too on-the-nose corporate ambience.
Frenchette is a mecca for the Tribeca folk who don’t want to leave their little bubble. It’s also worth traveling a bit for, if you don’t live in the area. The last time I was there for dinner I was seated next to a very serious business dinner of 12 men in suits, but that felt out of the ordinary, which is a compliment to the restaurant’s homey yet sophisticated vibe.
The Odeon is a given. Nowhere else is more quintessential New York. It’s the perfect table to book for a lunch meeting of New Yorkers and people in town from elsewhere. It’s the Café Luxembourg of downtown, and if you can book either of those without terribly inconveniencing any of the guests of said lunch, I think you’re in great shape.
And if your boss is REALLY a creative, maybe they’ll need to meet someone in Brooklyn? In which case, pretty much the only place I dream of weekday lunching is at Le Crocodile in Williamsburg.
All of these spots are pinned on my maps guide for paid subscribers. I hope this is a helpful resource for all the hardworking assistants out there!!
P.S. places I came across while writing this that should definitely consider opening for weekday lunch: Gjelina, Crevette, and King.
P.P.S. I’m going on vacation next week and decided I’m going to read and relax and shop and skip one Zest. But I’ll be back with Mexico City and San Miguel recs and reports shortly thereafter! Xoxo
