Ongoing list of cool places in New York – feel free to add your thoughts:

Recently opened:

• The Lion – www.thelionnyc.com – 62 West 9th Street, New York - (212) 353-840 (great for dinner)
• Gemma Restaurant at the Bowery Hotel – 335 Bowery – (212) 505-9100 (good for lunch)
• Peel’s (new from owner of Freeman’s)
• the Smile (very downtown trendy)
• Fat Radish (brand new- just ate there last night)
• Standard bar & grill
• Cafe Cluny (great intimate/ romantic Resto in west village)
• Indochine (still an all-time favorite)
• Macau (Asian fusion in TriBeCa)
• la Esquina (favorite cool Mexican) – 106 Kenmare St

Best Brunch:

• Pastis, Meatpacking
• Bubby’s in Tribecca – 24/7
• Olives in the West Village (in the heart of the west village)
• Felix, Soho, West Broadway
• Cornelia Street café – West Village – jazz
• Katz’s deli in the lower east side – When Harry Met Sally – 24 /7
• Cafe Habana, Soho – http://www.cafehabana.com/

Lunch:

• Spotted Pig – Greenwhich Village – Bono’s pub
• Boathouse in central park – literally in front of the boating lake
• The Mercer Hotel – Soho
• Corner St Bistro – West Village – best burgers in NYC
• Hudson hotel – more formal
• Russian Tea Room (W 57th St). Great paintings!

Restaurants:

• Dos Camino’s – fun Mexican – prickly pear cocktails and guacamole v famous!
• Balthazar, Soho, French food – great atmosphere
• The River Café, Brooklyn – amazing views of Manhattan
• Peter Lugars, most famous steak house – Dumbo
• Blue Ribbon café or Bond Street for sushi
• Ye waverly inn – http://dinesite.com/info/rstrnt-110758/
• Somreros – fun mexican which serves really strong nice cocktails

Drinks:

• Little Branch. 20 Seventh Ave South (at Leroy St.) – fantastic new speakeasy – just down road from Centro Vinoteca which is located at 74 7th Avenue South (between Barrow and Bleeker Streets). At a weird little V-shaped corner!
• Milk and Honey – they also have a sister bar just round the corner in the lowe east side which is fab
• The 55 Bar -  jazz – Christopher Street
• Rockefeller – Rainbow Rooms – one of the best views of New York
• 230 5th rooftop bar
• Pianos

Hotels:

• Greenwhich Hotel – De Niro’s Place
• Soho Hotel and The Tribecca Grand
• The Standard – of the moment
• Four Seasons
• Thompson
• The Crosby St Hotel
• The London

Cultural:

• The High Line – newest tourist innovation in NYC – fantastic walk along a converted railway track turned into an urban park
• The West Village – Magnolia’s bakery and Bleaker Street
• Shopping in Soho!
• Bus tours – they are fanastic
• Grand Central Station – oyster bar is great
• Biking in Central Park
• Morning side heights and the Ulysses S Grant Memorial
• Carneigie Hall
• Abyssinian Church – Harlem – start queuing at 7am to get a seat!
• UN
• Rockefeller centre
• Walk along the west side of Manhattan down to Ground Zero and Battery park
• Circle Line boat tours
• South Street Seaport and Brooklyn Bridge
• Helicopter tours – Liberty
• Liberty Ireland and Ellis Island
• Broadway shows
• Museums galore -  Guggenheim, Met, American Museum of Natural Histor; MoMA | The Museum of Modern Art; Tenement Museum—New York City Tenement MuseumWhitney Museum of American
• New York Public Library