Department store restaurants-blast from the past with a view

Like the author of this excellent review of NYC department store restaurants, I'm nostalgic for restuarants-within-stores, a holdover from my childhood when my mother would take me to Woolworth's for an open-face turkey sandwich, an experience I remembered both for its culinary pleasures, and the bonding experience with my mother while my older siblings were in school). That, trips to Boston Store as a pre-schooler, where (I am told) I was more than content with just a roll and butter, make me long for the experience of the department-store cafe.
Some of these restaurants sound like an excellent place to take mom and dad or nieces and nephews on a NYC visit, as many come with a view: Here are some that I'd like to explore:
1- Saks Fifth Avenue’s Cafe SFA, on the eighth floor. "The view alone is worth it: Rockefeller Center Promenade and rooftop gardens on one side, and along the other wall of windows, the neo-Gothic spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral across East 50th Street"
2- Le Train Bleu at Bloomingdale’s "appears to be suspended between the sixth and seventh floors."
3-"Bergdorf Goodman houses the two best department store restaurants in town. BG Restaurant is a seventh-floor stunner: robin’s-egg blue whisper chairs and chinoiserie wallpaper. The vista of Fifth Avenue and Central Park leaves me awestruck. Meals are served, but I opt for afternoon tea ($35). The sun is shining as I start on the finger sandwiches (smoked salmon, egg salad, turkey and dill). By the time I’ve finished a perfect scone with Devonshire cream and four petits fours, it is dusk, and Manhattan is ablaze."
4- "Bar III at the Bergdorf Goodman Men’s store. Different décor — dark wood and white marble — but the same food as its sister restaurant, and there’s never a wait."

Good Mom-Is-Coming to NYC Restaurants-59th Street area

Carnegie Deli 5th and 7th


Sarabeth's Restraurant: 59th and Central Park South--this is good food in a nearby location

Palm Court at the Plaza - 59th and CPS --offers breakfast lunch and afternoon tea-a la carte brunch on Sunday - spectacular open room in the Plaza Atrium --tea on Sunday would be 31- 50...honestly this is well worth it as I think your mom would love this if she likes hotels and old New York

Oak Room and Oak Room Bar at the Plaza Hotel ) entrees around $32--Oak Room Bar looks out on Central Park

The Algonquin Hotel brunch (one of my fave old hotels--where Dorothy Parker's Roundtable was held). This is also pricey for Brunch --25-35 or so


Brunch at Carlyle Hotel - 76th and Madison -$59 prix fixe brunch

Neue Galerie -and its wonderful cafes

The Neue Galerie is an elegant, small, museum in a gorgeous building across and up from the Metropolitan Museum, at 86th and Fifth Avenue. The museum is devoted to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design. Exhibitions can be small but worth a visit, especially if you have a chance to stop at the cafe/ restaurants on the first floor: Cafe Sabarskay (Mon and Wed 9-6; Thurs-Sun 9-9; Tues. closed) and Cafe Fledermaus (Fri-Sun, 12-6). Here's a link to there Teutonic-centric menu. Even if you go just for coffee and breakfast, its a divine atmosphere; as close as you'll get to Vienna in NYC.

Hours and Admission:
Museum Hours
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(closed Tuesday and Wednesday)

Admission
General $15
Students and seniors $10
FREE the First Friday 6-8 every month

Free Stuff: How to get tickets to TV shows taped in NYC

I have to admit I never think of going to talk shows because I live here. Which really makes no sense! But it's tops on the tourist to-do list, so herewith some how-to-get-tickets links to various shows shot in New York (I will update this post throughout the week):

NYTIX.com: Comprehensive listing of TV shows taped in NYC

Regis and Kelly (studio is at 67th and Columbus): Stand-by line at 7AM is worth a try if you don't have tickets. As per website: "Up to a 12 month wait for tickets because there is very limited seating in the studio. To help assure the dates you request will be available, please submit your ticket request at least 6-8 weeks in advance and be sure to include multiple back-up dates to work with in order to help us fulfill your request."

The David Letterman Show: (Studio is the Ed Sullivan Theater at 53rd and Broadway) Call the Stand-by PHONE line the day of starting at 11AM --(212) 247-6497. To get tickets you must 1.) Submit your request using their Online Ticket Form OR 2.) Visit the theater during specified hours and submit an In-Person Request

The New York Historical Society-little gems

(NOTE: The NYHS will be closed until Sept., due to renovations, starting July 12th...so RUN don't walk to these exhibitions if you are in NY right now!) A trip to The New-York Historical Society yielded yet another transcendent experience--which may sound a bit hyperbolic for a small museum that attracts relatively few visitors. But every time I go there I find something surprising. This time I went for the Harlem photo exhibition, which turned out to be more documentary than art. But upstairs were two lush, delightful painting exhibitions: "New York Painting Begins: 18th Century Portraits," and "Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School."Beautifully presented against dark blue walls (LOVE when museums think about the presentation in this way--I felt like I was in an 18th century parlor), they had 6 children's portraits that were especially unusual and vibrant. The Hudson River exhibit had some lovely paintings from lesser known painters (to me anyway) as well as Thomas Cole (him I know of!).
And there was a moving Lincoln "In His Own Words" display, with examples of Lincoln letters, notes and documents, that gave me chills. When I read the Emancipation Proclamation with his signature, it was a revelation. I suddenly understood the courage and inner strength it took to take this step. I was moved by the content--but also understood for the first time the personal weight of his decision. And a simple letter he wrote to a friend of his son who was not accepted at Harvard, filled with encouragement and exhortation to never give up, was inspiring (the friend was accepted at Yale). It revealed a kindness and positiveness I wish more politicians had.
They also have cool events here for kids (otherwise the museum is not particularly interesting for kids)--July 4th there will be an event with actors portraying Ben Franklin, etc, and Revolutionary War re-enactors.
INFO (CLOSED FROM JULY 12, 2009-Sept. 2009!!): The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West between 76th & 77th Street.Tel. (212) 873-3400. Subway: B or C to 81st Street. 1,2, or 3 to 72nd & Broadway or 1 to 79th and B'way. Bus: M10 to 77th Street; M79 to 81st Street and Central Park West. Public parking garages are located at 203 West 77th Street, 207 76th Street and 201 West 75th Street, all between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

Hours

Tuesday - Thursday:	10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday:	10:00 AM - 8:00 PM, Pay what you wish for admission between 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday:	10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday:	11:00 AM - 5:45 PM
Monday:	CLOSED