NEW York City is not a place where you are left wanting. The city is a melting pot of culture, perhaps best articulated through its diverse culinary scene, and while a lot of the best restaurants in NYC are not cheap, customers get what they pay for through an authentic experience and delicious food.
These restaurants are four of the most exclusive in the city and remain under the radar, only suitable for customers willing to spend a little extra.
Carbone
This Michelin-star winning Italian American restaurant is a window into mid-20th Century New York with the glowing neon sign above the entrance and nostalgic menu. Skilful chefs serve characterful food while the attentive servers move effortlessly around the restaurant floor with enough exuberance and grandiose to warrant a second visit alone.
Spaghetti alla gricia, chicken scarpariello and six-layer blackout cake are a few items on the exquisitely crafted menu that stand out.
Price: $150+ per head depending on wine selection
Address: No 81 Thompson Street, New York City
Carbone’s Calamari – Credit: Carbone/Instagram 
Paccheri with Carbone Marinara Sauce, stracciatella and basil – Credit: Carbone/Instagram
Per Se
Part of the hugely successful Thomas Keller Group, French-inspired Per Se has maintained three Michelin stars since 2006 and features a daily nine-course tasting menu available in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian format, with no single ingredient appearing twice throughout.
It features in almost every top 50 restaurants in NYC list, so it’s not quite a secret, but the sheer opulence and reputation of Per Se gives every diner an indelible feeling of exclusivity. The steep prices don’t hurt either.
Price: Tasting menu is $295 per head
Address: 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019, United States
Eleven Madison Park
Another fine-dining establishment to maintain three Michelin stars for years, Eleven Madison Park announced on May 3, 2021, that the restaurant would be eliminating all animal products and serving a strictly plant-based menu. Owner and Chef Daniel Humm is the brains behind the organisation and recently left Claridge’s in London as the afternoon tea institution took against Humm’s plant-based proposition.
Nonetheless, Eleven Madison Park remains one of the best restaurants in the city and has won several other awards alongside its Michelin stars. The tasting menu is a popular choice, and the restaurant also does its bit for the community by working with Rethink Food to provide meals to New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity.
Price: Tasting menu is $335 including tip
Address: 11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010, United States
COTE Korean Steakhouse
Simon Kim’s COTE is the only Michelin-starred Korean barbecue restaurant in the world and was also New York’s first Korean steakhouse. Each table is fitted with a smokeless grill to cook the delicious meats, all of which have been dry-aged in COTE’s very own in-house dry ageing room, the only Korean steakhouse in New York with such a room.
Kim opened a subterranean bar and cocktail lounge underneath his initial creation in 2018 and called it Undercote – pop in here after your meal for the most exclusive COTE experience possible.
Price: Around $80 per person
Address: 16 W 22nd St, New York, NY 10010, United States
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