Power Lunch Spots of the Rich
There are the places to spot a celebrity or catch the titans of Wall Street.
March 21, 2008— -- When Ronald Perelman walks to his table at Michael's restaurant in New York, a server is usually right behind him with his diet soda at the ready.
"And, right behind that server," says general manager Steve Millington, "there's usually another server waiting in the wings with some green tea" just in case that's what Perelman wants that day.
There are many other reasons Michael's in midtown Manhattan has established itself as a "power restaurant" among New York's media and publishing elite--the round tables which facilitate intimate (and hushed) conversation and double-wide arm chairs, for starters.
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But, says Millington, it's the intuitive service that, time and again, makes it the right place to close the deal.
"I see myself as a can of WD-40," he says. "I grease the wheels to make sure everything can happen as it should."
And so it was at Michael's that CBS head Les Moonves wooed Katie Couric to his network and that Warren Buffet forged his idea for charity lunches.
Lunch service here has been described as a "social chess match." Seating arrangements--front room or back room--are critical, which is why they usually go through several edits each morning. At daily 11:45 staff meetings, Millington lets people know what to expect in power "wattage" that day. Power brokers teeter between wanting to be seen and wanting to be left alone, and the staff at Michael's has been trained on how to negotiate that fine line.
"Sometimes we tell the kitchen to hold back on a dish, if we see that a conversation just got very intense," says Millington. "It can be daunting in here."
Hot Spots
We scoured the country to find other restaurants that are magnets for politicos and publishers, developers and dot-comers, by talking to concierges, restaurateurs and executives.
Not surprisingly, in Washington, D.C., where legislation often happens over expense-account lunches, there are plenty to choose from, and most--The Palm, Morton's, Charlie Palmer Steak, The Capital Grille--fall into the steakhouse category.
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