Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

As you may have heard, Sam Sifton is leaving his job as the New York Times’ restaurant critic to take over as the paper’s National Editor. His final review was published yesterday, and he signed off with a bang.

Mr. Sifton awarded four stars to Upper West Side food mecca Per Se (located in the Time Warner center), calling it “the best restaurant in New York City.”

I won’t bother trying to summarize things — you an read the full review here. On his declaration of Per Se being the best of the best, Sifton offers these simple words:

I make the argument unreservedly. I have eaten in restaurants five or more nights a week for the last two years, always in search of the best and most delectable, the most interesting and important. And I have come back again and again to Per Se to find it.

Unfortunately, dinner at Per Se as a set price of $295/person (plus tax & tip UPATE: Just realized the set menu includes service), and that doesn’t include wine — says Sifton: “A conversation with a sommelier can easily double the cost of the buy-in. Dinner for two can scratch at $1,000 — or about the same as the median weekly household income in New York State.”

If you’re desperate to see what the hype is about, he adds “… there is an à la carte menu available in the salon up front, and careful diners could eat there for less than $100.”

If that’s still out of your price range, here’s a photo slideshow from The Times so you can at least see what  you’re missing.

Filed under: Columbus Circle, Food & Drink, Going Out, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Restaurants, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, Upper West Side Date Stuff, Upper West Side Review, UWS 1 Comment »
Tags: Best Restaurant In New York City, Best Restaurant In NYC, Eli Kaimeh, four star, New York City, New York Times, NYC, Per Se, restaurant review, Sam Sifton, Thomas Keller, Time Warner Center, TWC, Upper West Side, UWS