October 3, 2012--Power Breakfast
When I read that the Regency Hotel was closing its restaurant for renovations and wouldn't reopen until some time next year, I worried about what Larry King, Tina Brown, Jonathan Tisch, and Vernon Jordan would do about breakfast. The Regency is their regular early morning hangout and has long been regarded as New York City's premier Power Breakfast venue.
But leave it to the New York Times to come up with alternatives for them while they wait impatiently for the Regency to reopen.
There's the Standard Grill in the hot Chelsea district. The crowd there includes some of the city's leading art gallery owners, Barry Diller, Alex von Furstenberg (son of Diane), and Calvin Klein. The women tend to wear DVF dresses and, to quote the Times, "jangly bracelets on thin wrists." The decor is "vaguely nautical, with rusticated dark wood panels." The menu includes Mexican papaya with fresh lime and vanilla syrup ($7) and Old Chatham yogurt and honey (also $7).
Further uptown at Michael's where breakfast regulars include heads of L.A. movie studios, real estate tycoons such as Jerry Speyer, Geraldine Laybourn, founder of Oxygen Media, and Vernon Jordon (who is apparently eclectic in his early morning haunts). There dress is more formal than downtown. It is "the land of conservative navy suits paired with floral ties. Pearl necklaces hang in tasteful parabolas on Elie Tahari knits." As for decor, it's "like a well-appointed lobby of an Upper East Side dermatology office." If the decor doesn't kill your appetite, you can get and egg-white omelet with shiitaki mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions for $23, washed down with a $7 espresso.
Then the Times lists our regular New York City breakfast place--Balthazar, where we have been going for coffee ($3.50) and croissants ($3.50) for more than a decade. We've seen Yoko Ono and Meg Ryan there on occasional mornings as well as Salmon Rushdie, Denzel Washington, and Nick Denton founder of Gawker. Dress? "Jeans all around." The decor? "The original faux-French bistro; tin ceilings, and rickety chairs." Food? Eggs Benedict ($18.50), English breakfast--eggs, baked beans, sausage, toast (($19), half a grapefruit ($7.50), and latte in a bowl ($5.50).
To tell the truth, I don't miss any of these places, including our beloved Balth because up here on the coast of Maine we have the Bristol Diner. The local place for the Midcoast version of a power breakfast since regular customers not only include some of the town's senior elected officials but also many of the areas patriarchs whose families have been here since the early 17th century.
But it's a very democratic place (and this is not meant to be a political comment since at the Bristol folks as liberal as Rona and I are welcomed and comfortable with other customers who are libertarian, small-government conservatives) because sitting next to each other at the counter can be found lobstermen, 777 airline pilots, orthopedic surgeons, owners of manufacturing companies, graphic designers, cabinet makers, telephone linemen, a former cowboy, gardeners, an occasional federal judge, museum director, summer people, expats from big cities, and periodic folks who are just passing through.
There is no dress code at the Bristol. Though if anyone showed up in a DVF frock or blue suit and floral tie they would be in for a few stares. But if they have a sense of humor and aren't too full of themselves, owner, baker, chief waitress, mistress-of-ceremonies, blithe-spirit Sue would welcome them as long lost relatives.
Decor is your basic 1950s diner style, with a half dozen vinyl booths and seven or eight stools at the Formica counter. There are a few signs on the walls, announcing that you are in John Deere Country and that A Dog's Tail Never Lies. There's a blackboard where Sue lists specials. If cowboy chili or meatloaf with two eggs is available, I highly recommend them. Or anything else for that matter. All right out of the kitchen and suffused with flavor and comfort. But don't forget Sue's buttermilk donuts ($1) or daily scones. Or their breakfast sandwich which includes an egg (any style) with ham or bacon or sausage and cheese on a toasted English ($3.50) or two blueberry pancakes loaded with wild Maine berries ($3.99). The coffee too is perfect diner fare ($1.25 for as many refills as you need to get going).
At least as important as the food is the conversation, which often includes half the people in attendance, with Sue frequently serving as the instigator and star of the show. Yesterday, for example, the conversation ranged from what's going on with Ken and his sawmill to Bill's need to relocate his old chicken coop to Barrett's revealing that in years gone by he had been an amateur boxer and then later a boxing manager to my telling about what was left of Murder Incorporated back in my Brooklyn days to Rona talking about how America is in danger to losing its ability to carry out big civic projects to Sue regaling us with a story about the time she and her husband Flip took Gunter, their 160-pound pet pot-bellied pig to the vet.
If you're ever fortunate enough to get to the Bristol Diner be sure to ask her to tell you about their car ride with Gunther, especially when they stopped at Dunkin Donuts and what happened after that.
Or just stop in for coffee and a home-baked bran and raisin muffin. Forget the Regency.
But leave it to the New York Times to come up with alternatives for them while they wait impatiently for the Regency to reopen.
There's the Standard Grill in the hot Chelsea district. The crowd there includes some of the city's leading art gallery owners, Barry Diller, Alex von Furstenberg (son of Diane), and Calvin Klein. The women tend to wear DVF dresses and, to quote the Times, "jangly bracelets on thin wrists." The decor is "vaguely nautical, with rusticated dark wood panels." The menu includes Mexican papaya with fresh lime and vanilla syrup ($7) and Old Chatham yogurt and honey (also $7).
Further uptown at Michael's where breakfast regulars include heads of L.A. movie studios, real estate tycoons such as Jerry Speyer, Geraldine Laybourn, founder of Oxygen Media, and Vernon Jordon (who is apparently eclectic in his early morning haunts). There dress is more formal than downtown. It is "the land of conservative navy suits paired with floral ties. Pearl necklaces hang in tasteful parabolas on Elie Tahari knits." As for decor, it's "like a well-appointed lobby of an Upper East Side dermatology office." If the decor doesn't kill your appetite, you can get and egg-white omelet with shiitaki mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions for $23, washed down with a $7 espresso.
Then the Times lists our regular New York City breakfast place--Balthazar, where we have been going for coffee ($3.50) and croissants ($3.50) for more than a decade. We've seen Yoko Ono and Meg Ryan there on occasional mornings as well as Salmon Rushdie, Denzel Washington, and Nick Denton founder of Gawker. Dress? "Jeans all around." The decor? "The original faux-French bistro; tin ceilings, and rickety chairs." Food? Eggs Benedict ($18.50), English breakfast--eggs, baked beans, sausage, toast (($19), half a grapefruit ($7.50), and latte in a bowl ($5.50).
To tell the truth, I don't miss any of these places, including our beloved Balth because up here on the coast of Maine we have the Bristol Diner. The local place for the Midcoast version of a power breakfast since regular customers not only include some of the town's senior elected officials but also many of the areas patriarchs whose families have been here since the early 17th century.
But it's a very democratic place (and this is not meant to be a political comment since at the Bristol folks as liberal as Rona and I are welcomed and comfortable with other customers who are libertarian, small-government conservatives) because sitting next to each other at the counter can be found lobstermen, 777 airline pilots, orthopedic surgeons, owners of manufacturing companies, graphic designers, cabinet makers, telephone linemen, a former cowboy, gardeners, an occasional federal judge, museum director, summer people, expats from big cities, and periodic folks who are just passing through.
There is no dress code at the Bristol. Though if anyone showed up in a DVF frock or blue suit and floral tie they would be in for a few stares. But if they have a sense of humor and aren't too full of themselves, owner, baker, chief waitress, mistress-of-ceremonies, blithe-spirit Sue would welcome them as long lost relatives.
Decor is your basic 1950s diner style, with a half dozen vinyl booths and seven or eight stools at the Formica counter. There are a few signs on the walls, announcing that you are in John Deere Country and that A Dog's Tail Never Lies. There's a blackboard where Sue lists specials. If cowboy chili or meatloaf with two eggs is available, I highly recommend them. Or anything else for that matter. All right out of the kitchen and suffused with flavor and comfort. But don't forget Sue's buttermilk donuts ($1) or daily scones. Or their breakfast sandwich which includes an egg (any style) with ham or bacon or sausage and cheese on a toasted English ($3.50) or two blueberry pancakes loaded with wild Maine berries ($3.99). The coffee too is perfect diner fare ($1.25 for as many refills as you need to get going).
At least as important as the food is the conversation, which often includes half the people in attendance, with Sue frequently serving as the instigator and star of the show. Yesterday, for example, the conversation ranged from what's going on with Ken and his sawmill to Bill's need to relocate his old chicken coop to Barrett's revealing that in years gone by he had been an amateur boxer and then later a boxing manager to my telling about what was left of Murder Incorporated back in my Brooklyn days to Rona talking about how America is in danger to losing its ability to carry out big civic projects to Sue regaling us with a story about the time she and her husband Flip took Gunter, their 160-pound pet pot-bellied pig to the vet.
If you're ever fortunate enough to get to the Bristol Diner be sure to ask her to tell you about their car ride with Gunther, especially when they stopped at Dunkin Donuts and what happened after that.
Or just stop in for coffee and a home-baked bran and raisin muffin. Forget the Regency.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:57 AM
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