Sometimes all you need in life is a scenic New York establishment to drink Manhattans and enjoy a nicely prepared slab of Wagyu.
Sometimes you'll need a lot more than that.
But today, and right now, let's focus on those simpler times.
The ones you might head to Manhatta: Danny Meyer's latest, omitted "n" both intentional and Walt Whitman-inspired, now open way down near Battery Park.
Dinner with clients, dates with out of town-ers, power lunches: all reasonable times to find yourself here. And to find it, first seek out the large, glass skyscraper known as 28 Liberty, and head up to the 60th floor. (If you need to quote Walt Whitman's Mannahatta as you do so, we support you. "Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron, slender, strong, light, splendidly uprising toward clear skies!")
When the elevator doors slide open, stop shouting lines of poetry. You'll be confronted with two spaces and some absolutely killer views... The first, which you'll avoid: the south-facing Bay Room, which happens to be the first event space from Union Square Hospitality Group. Keep it in mind for any gala you have to plan this year. And the second: Manhatta, with its incredibly long black walnut bar, mid-century furniture and glass windows in every direction.
The bar's a good place to start. Grab something classic (they're doing a lot of variations on the Manhattan) and maybe stay there for a bite, if you'd like to order A La Carte. If you head to a table, expect a tasting menu of scotch snails with pork sausage, grilled lamb with summer beans and radicchio, chilled cucumber soup... it's a classic, French-inspired menu dreamed up by a Per Se and Maialino alum, and it'll all be good.
Manhatta, now open, 28 Liberty St, Floor 60, (between Nassau and William), 212-230-5788, see the menu and the slideshow
