Seal the Deal Meals: The Haute 5 Places to Power Lunch in NYC

In a city where the place to be is always changing, one thing stays strangely consistent: the New York power lunch. Tried and true standards win out over new menus any day. Besides, the people at the table next to yours are much more important than whatever is on the plate. Below is our list of some of the best places to power lunch in New York. All of them are in midtown (four out of five are in the fifties and one is a crouton’s throw away at 62^nd), all have been around for at least 20 years and all of them are filled from noon to 2 p.m. with the city’s most elite diners.

Four Seasons Restaurant

New York’s movers and shakers have been lunching at the Four Seasons restaurant for 50 years. And it wasn’t just for the company, but for the food. When the restaurant opened in 1959, The New York Times reviewer said “There has never been a restaurant better keyed to the tempo of Manhattan than the Four Seasons.” Today, no restaurant has come along yet to steal its place. Town and Country has named The Four Seasons its “favorite restaurant in the world” and New York Magazine has deemed it the city’s “best power lunch”. In 1960, James Beard wrote that, “A luncheon I had at the Four Seasons…was perfect.” Order a Black Angus beef tenderloin or crab cakes with a poached organic egg and truffle from the seasonal menu. Dine in the Grill Room (site of JFK’s 45^th birthday celebration) with its big windows walnut-paneled walls and wooden bar.

The Four Seasons Restaurant is located at 99 East 52nd St. between Park and Lexington.

Harry Cipriani

Cipriani’s flagship restaurant is another long-time Manhattan staple. Just off Central Park, the midtown spot fills daily with a mix of executives and celebrities doing their best renditions of power lunching. Cipriani has a number of regulars and the competition for a prime table is fierce. Despite the Cipriani family’s financial scandal of past few years, Cipriani is still the place to be. Accompany your meal with a Belli, the restaurant’s signature drink, which Cipriani’s Venetian predecessor, Harry’s Bar, has been serving since 1948.

Cipriani is located at 781 5^th Ave. between 59^th & 60^th Streets.

Michael’s

What do Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Michael Douglas, and Warren Buffet have in common? Why, they all lunch at Michael’s New York of course. The classic-French-meets-California-cool menu attracts a high-powered crowd that tips toward prominent entertainment figures and media moguls. Michael’s is definitely a place to lunch, rather than sup. Many dishes like the popular Cobb salad, packed with the traditional ingredients that make such a dish a lunchtime favorite, are only available on the noontime menu.

Michaels is located at 24 W 55^th St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

Le Cirque

Although the French restaurant’s most recent incarnation is a mere three years old (a power lunch baby!), Le Cirque has been around for more than 30 years. It has closed and reopened at various locations including at the Mayfair Hotel, Palace Hotel, and now Bloomberg Tower, and has been led by many more chefs (Daniel Boulud did a six-year stint in the 80s before opening up his own restaurant, while Craig Hopson is the current executive chef.) Yet one thing has remained the same: the rich and fabulous keep coming back. The restaurant’s 2006 reopening was even the subject of the 2007 documentary Le Cirque: A Table In Heaven. Le Cirque is still run by the founding Maccioni family. There is a second location at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Le Cirque is located at 151 East 58^th St.

Nello

If you’re in the mood for Italian, with a side of celebrity, head to Nello. On any given day you will find A-listers like Mickey Rourke, A-Rod, Jay-Z, the Williams sisters, or Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich eating at Nello. (While Abramovich does dine at Nello, he has not spent $47,000 on lunch there, despite a false receipt that was leaked this fall.) The menu has a particularly wide array of homemade pastas, including the popular Penne Rigate Alla Buttera with homemade hot and sweet sausages, tomatoes and green peas. The restaurant is owned by Nello Balan and has been on the Upper East Side for 20 years

Nello is located at 696 Madison, between East 62^nd and 63^rd Streets.