Power Play
From New York to California, the best restaurants for the modern business lunch
A FIXTURE OF mid-century corporate culture, the “three-martini lunch” evokes an era of glass towers, narrow ties and Madison Avenue indulgence, the professional equivalent of more socially driven afternoons at Le Pavillon or La Côte Basque. Into the 1970s and ’80s, the concept was superseded by the “power lunch,” epitomized at places like The Four Seasons in the Seagram Building, where titans of industry, media and politics observed each other across a crowded modernist room. Two- or three-hour meals became a status symbol if one was seen with the right people. In 1986, however, tax codes were revised, lowering the deductibility of business meals to 80 percent, which was driven down even further, to 50 percent, in 1994. Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, more freewheeling places like Hollywood’s Brown Derby—birthplace of the Cobb salad—were lively spots to be seen and conduct deals, but as the business model evolved, it required an environment that catered to executives and celebrities in a more studied manner, exemplified by the Polo Lounge. Below, from New York to Texas to California, some of the country’s best spots for power lunching today.
NEW YORK CITY Fasano
Renowned for offering stylish Italian hospitality in São Paulo for more than a century, Fasano now operates 27 restaurants around the world. Its latest venue on New York’s Park Avenue defines the luxury power lunch. Classic dishes include il duetto Milanese (risotto and veal chop) and the bollito cart, a Northern Italian selection of boiled meats and vegetables enhanced by sauces. For lighter bites, updated versions of caprese di bufala and hand-dipped ricotta and spinach cappellacci are favorites. fasanorestaurantny.com
Hudson Yards Grill
Just steps from powerhouse companies, this restaurant helmed by chef Michael Lomonaco coddles lunch crowds with familiar offerings of deviled eggs with smoked paprika, prime-beef burgers with cheddar cheese and house-made buns, Black Angus steaks, chopped and Cobb salads, and jumbo shrimp cocktails. hudsonyardsgrill.com
LOS ANGELES Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air
It’s impossible to imagine a better combination: the serene and exclusive Bel
Air neighborhood, suffused with Golden Age Hollywood glamour, and Wolfgang Puck, a chef who defines celebrity. Beautiful, locally sourced dishes include famous creations such as Puck’s tortilla soup, Nancy Reagan chopped salad and the Bel-Air club with maple-glazed freshly baked turkey, smoked ham, crispy bacon and fried egg. dorchestercollection.com
Polo Lounge
One of the most interesting dining rooms on the West Coast is also a perennial lunch favorite. Private booths are ideal for both conversation and people watching. One should start with caviar and Dom Pérignon before moving on to the classic Polo Lounge prime-beef tenderloin steak tartare with herb fries and toast points. Or opt for the McCarthy salad, a recipe prepared for Neil McCarthy, a regular guest at The Beverly Hills Hotel and 1940s local polo team captain. He gave the specific list of ingredients, and it has been a signature dish ever since. dorchestercollection.com
DALLAS The Mansion Restaurant
This restaurant at the historic 1920s Mansion on Turtle Creek made its name by serving New American cuisine rooted in French traditions, garnering popularity among Dallas tastemakers. White-grape gazpacho features avocado, pickles and blue-crab salad, while the tomato panzanella salad is elevated with peaches and creamy burrata cheese. The yellow corn risotto and shrimp—an answer to shrimp and grits—is not to be missed, nor are the Texas Fungus mushrooms sautéed in duck fat with garlic. rosewoodhotels.com
HOUSTON Le Jardinier
Perhaps the most harmonious concept developed by Michelin-starred chef Alain Verzeroli, Le Jardinier offers cuisine with an abundance of color, aroma and texture. Located in The Museum of Fine Arts, the space features Trenton Doyle Hancock’s monumental tapestry Color Flash for Chat and Chew, Paris Texas in Seventy-Two. It’s an ideal setting to savor sumptuous chilled corn velouté with curried popcorn, burrata with pine nut gremolata, peaches, cherries and tomatoes, and arctic char with heirloom squash and pistachio. lejardinier-houston.com
MIAMI Fiola
While Michelin has anointed Fabio Trabocchi’s Washington, D.C., location, in Miami it’s the power crowd who have made Fiola the place to be. Memorable lunch offerings from the à la carte or prix fixe menu include light indulgences like farmer’s field lettuces with peaches and goat cheese, yellowfin tuna tartare with pine nuts, lemon, Calabrian chili and mint, stunning fisherman-style brodetto with mussels, chickpeas and green olives, or a 12-ounce Delmonico steak with truffle osso buco sauce and fries. fiolamiami.com
It’s impossible to imagine a better combination: the exclusive Bel-Air neighborhood and a chef who defines celebrity.