The benefits of working long hours and not having a real summer every year is being able to eat in some of the best restaurants NYC has to offer. Not to brag, well yes to brag:
STK,
Quality Meats,
Trattoria Dell Arte,
Le Crique,
Del Frisco's, and so on. It's a super major plus when you're a foodie like myself; for others, well it's just another lunch or dinner.
My latest dinner adventure with work was,
Stanton Social, the popular "tapas" place in the Lower East Side. I quote tapas because Owners, Chris Santos, Richard Wolf (TAO) and Peter Kane (Happy Ending) call them "share plates," which is exactly what they are. The plates come out portioned for the amount of people eating at the table, so everyone tastes all the dishes. I like what they're doing, the atmosphere combined with the passable dishes to share make for a great group environment. It creates a place where everyone is involved and gets a chance to try multiple dishes. If you look around, the scene is one any wanna be "it" person would die to be caught in; exuding stylishness, luxury, and elegance.