Two major restaurant experiences this week PLUS a new rooftop hotel bar 

 

I had dinner at The Polo Bar in midtown on Monday and at Wayan in my neighborhood on Tuesday. Both phenomenal in entirely different ways.

I’ll start with Wayan because it’s newer (opened in February).

Wayan (20 Spring Street)

This comes to us from Cedric Vongerichten (Jean-Georges’ son). He was born in Bangkok, Thailand while his father was the chef at the Oriental Hotel. Cedric has major culinary chops and has worked at his father’s restaurants as well as such notables as El Bulli in Barcelona.

Wayan serves Indonesian food (which I am not familiar with). My friend, Bruce Bromley, did his homework, however, and we ordered well.

 

Read on below for more.

 

Wayan recommendations:

• #1: Sit in the front room – ideally at the bar if only two of you. It’s quieter and it’s beautiful. Interiors are by the Rockwell Group. The backroom gets super loud. The music is not particularly loud but something about the acoustics back there makes it hard to hear.
• #2: Menu recommendations: Avocado Gado Gado, Clams Jimbaran Style, The Lobster Noodles (this was my absolute favorite), Pandan Passionfruit custard (amazing!). We also ordered the cod and the corn fritters (both good but not my thing). If you like spicy, make sure you top off your dishes with the sambal available on every table.

 

Front room and bar at Wayan

 

What we ordered:

 

The ambiance and the food remind me a bit of another neighborhood favorite on this same street, Uncle Boons. Wayan is more stylish and chic but the culinary innovation and the vibe are similar.

Cedric and his wife Ochi (a Jakarta native) are both highly visible in the dining room. Ochi, in particular, is wonderfully attentive and makes diners feel extraordinarily well taken care of.

I will definitely be back – look for me at the front bar.

 

The Polo Bar (1 East 55^th Street)

This restaurant opened in 2015 to great fanfare (less about the food and more about the difficulty of landing a reservation).

 

 

I always considered it Ralph Lauren’s vanity project and had heard mixed reviews on the food and the service. Also, of course, how pricey it was. With all that going for it, I never felt compelled to check it out.

Recently, however, two members of our “Roving Dining Explorers Club“, said they’d love to check it out so Frances went to work on getting us a reservation.

It turns out it is still quite a hot spot making it incredibly difficult to get a table if you’re not a regular. Frances prevailed, however, and we managed to snag a reservation for this past Monday at 5:15 pm. And believe it or not the dining room was packed, with all age groups. So strange to be dining at that time in a packed house – but impressive!

And after all my qualms about whether it would be good or not, it was FABULOUS!!

It’s still a bit of an ordeal getting thru the door but once your name pops up on their iPad reservations list, you are good to go.

The bar is gorgeous, the staff is incredibly attentive, the vibe is uptown chic. Our friend Joseph said it best when he described it as “a beautifully done, shiny and new version of the 21 Club.”

It is pricey but not outrageously so. Our group of six ordered various items from the menu from hamburgers to chicken paillard to halibut. I had the filet mignon with peppercorn sauce which was fantastic and for dessert, we shared the salted caramel sundae which was amazing. Everyone commented on how delicious their meal was – and Caleb, our waiter, was wonderful.

That said, it would be highly unlikely for me to attempt a return visit although if someone had a reservation and asked me to join them, I would say yes in a nanosecond.

Comparing my experience Monday vs. Tuesday, I know for a fact that I will wander over to Wayan frequently, sit at the bar, order those lobster noodles and the pandan custard, and become a regular (Cedric, Ochi and I will be on first name basis before the end of the summer – well, maybe). On the other hand, I will not attempt to break through The Polo Bar’s defenses to get to their bar or their stunning downstairs restaurant. Beautiful but too many barriers to entry and definitely not my tribe.

 

One more newbie in my neighborhood I want to tell you about is the rooftop bar at Sister City. Checked it out after dinner at Wayan.

 

Last Light (225 Bowery)

 

Views are stunning, very chill vibe, NOT fancy. If it’s windy, you’ll get absolutely blown off that roof – at the very least, your drink will be knocked over. Fortunately,  there is also an inside bar (pic below – top, left)

 

 

There are now 3 hotels with rooftop bars in my neighborhood – all within a block of each other:

• Last Light at Sister City is the newest and total hipster hangout. All ages, lots of Europeans. My kind of vibe.
• cloudM rooftop bar at citizenM Bowery is a little flashier. I’ve been there a few times and it’s definitely not people from the neighborhood. Everyone seems to be a little more dressed up for a night out in the city.
• The Roof at the Public Hotel – I have only been here once, when it first opened, and it reminded me of a Miami South Beach scene (and you can probably guess how I feel about that). Since then, they’ve glassed it in so they’re not weather-dependent (smart move). But it is a crazy scene with lines of people (again not locals) trying to get past the velvet rope down at street level.

 

Bottom Line.

Active week. And the award for most outstanding experience goes to Wayan!