Confessions of a Korean-American Man in New York City

It's been a long time since I said "wow" to a restaurant. There are a lot of good places to eat in NYC but it takes a lot to make me want to come back again the next week and that is what Perry Street did for me. It is another beautiful creation by Jean-Georges that's located in the lower floor of the apartment building of Lenny Kravitz, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and many other celebs. If you live in NYC and jog down Hudson river, you know what buildings I'm talking about: it's the all glass condos that are located along the West Side Highway and Perry Street.

Anyway, I started off with cocktails with a gaggle of ladies (no Koreans, sorry). The girl who sat next to me wore the shortest skirt known to man. It was so short that her hands were glued in front of her to cover her crotch because her skirt just kept riding up her hips. For the guys around me, they were amused but for the gal, she labored all evening to pull her skirt down every 10 seconds.

I started off with a golden mojito. Forget martinis and pinots; mojitos are a great way to segue from the day into the night. After some good starter conversation, we headed over to the round corner table with the mega desk lamp that hung over with very dimmed light. I ordered the peekytoe crab appetizer that was fresh from Maine. For my main entree, I devoured the beef tenderloin. I didn't want to get a red meat dish, but the waiter (aka actor) convinced me that was the "go to" dish of the evening. We ended up ordering an assortment of desserts and a port wine that made my evening complete.

I was with coworkers and one of them asked if I wanted to go to the Vanity Fair party (for Fashion Week). He said, we can go there or meet up with friends at the Waverly Inn. Do I want to go to the VF party to be lost among the glamorous and superficial peeps, or go to the most pretentious tavern in NYC. We went to the latter for a few drinks at the bar. The Waverly Inn is the latest hot restaurant which I think is owned -- coincidentally -- by a Vanity Fair editor. It's located near my apt in a residential area by Artepasta. Every time I walk by there at night, there's always SUVs and their drivers waiting for whoever is inside eating. It was the same scene outside when we arrived. I didn't notice anybody inside because I was primarily located at the bar. Quite frankly, the Waverly Inn is a tavern that happens to have celebs drop by often. Beyond that, it's really not that remarkable of a place. Sorry.