Have Power, Will Lunch

With flusher economic times in most sectors, the power lunch booms once again. The Times' David Carr does his media thing, but now with a side of food, as he examines the restaurants where the powerful tend to eat. The hot restaurants are The Four Seasons, Michael's, DB Bistro Moderne (deemed downtown, even though it's only on 44th!), and newcomer Lever House, where the booths are tables du jour. Other restaurants include Eleven Madison Park, and old standbys Le Bernardin, Trattoria Dell'Arte, Orso, Tribeca Grill, and "21" Club. It's all about being seen, not what they eat, really. And when Linda Wells tells Carr, "I suppose I should be ashamed, but I like to eat at my desk," Gothamist guesses she has a sweet flat screen computer monitor she wants to get back to.

The Times also has a Julian–Niccolini drawn seating chart for the Four Seasons and while we expected to see Anna Wintour, Harvey Weinstein, and G.Pa(ltrow) on it, we were surprised to see Kerry Kittles, Nets guard. For some reason, basketball players seem more steak–oriented, like at Smith and Wollensky, Sparks, or Michael Jordan's.

Some power breakfasts: Balthazaar, The Regency, and Cafe Luxembourg (okay, we don't know how "power" they are at CL but they are damn good, like the baked eggs in Parmesan). And Norma's is great too, but more filling than powery.