Can’t Get a 3-Star Table? Try the Bar

The crème de la crème of New York’s top rated restaurants can be intimidating. Though meals are considered an art form, high prices, pre-charged reservations, and pressed-shirt pretension have all contributed to an all-too common critique: the 3.5-hour, $300+ tasting menus offered in these establishments are anachronistic. There is an easier way to enjoy these vaulted venues—for less. This year’s three-starred Michelin award winners, including Eleven Madison Park, Per Se, and Le Bernardin, are countering critics with shorter and cheaper, yet superbly executed menus designed to be served in their lounge bars, where walk-ins are welcome. “The bar is an important part of the business, in that it’s an opportunity for us to get more people in the restaurant who wouldn’t ordinarily come in,” said Eleven Madison Park’s General Manager Billy Peelle, sitting comfortably on a plush, caramel-colored banquette, dressed in pristine suit and tie. We’re seated in a soaring art