Recommendations

Private dining for every occasion.

Strengths

• If I could close my eyes, click my heels three times, and have any chef in the world cook for me, you can bet your morning coffee that I’d chose Gray Kunz. This guy is the real McCoy, the 4-star chef behind the legendary Lespinasse and his own Michelin-starred Café Gray in the Time Warner Center.
• The newly opened Grayz is situated in a freshly renovated Rockefeller-era townhouse. In addition to the public dining areas, there are three distinctive private dining rooms. You’ll be sure to find something to fit your needs, whether you’re planning a cocktail fete, a formal seated dinner, or a mix and mingle small plate soiree.
• The Fireside Room is located on the upper floor and has a view of the kitchen. As its name suggests, the room comes complete with working fireplace and can seat up to ten. It’s an ideal spot for friends gathering after work or a small intimate cocktail party.
• The Onyx Room, also on the upper level, is partitioned off from the main room by glass sliding doors: you get privacy but still benefit from the restaurant’s energy. This room has its own private lounge area with couches, a working fireplace, and a jewel box dining room with seating for ten to twenty. This room is perfect for intimate dinner party, a closing dinner, or a cocktail reception.
• The largest room—The Atrium Room—is located downstairs and seats up to 70 for dinner or 150 for cocktails. The space is sleek and modern and features seven-story ceilings, huge windows, and a built in sound system. There’s also connecting Speakeasy-styled lounge for cocktails. This room is best suited for meetings, presentations and larger dinner events.

Shortcomings

• Grayz is not suitable for any group over 100 or those on a budget. Prices start at $90 per person for lunch and $150 per person for dinner. Passed hors d’oeuvres are $50 per hour, per person and the open bar is $70 per hour, per person.

Insider tips

• Kunz may be known for his exquisitely refined and innovative cuisine, but he also makes the best chicken wings I’ve ever tried: meaty, tender and infused with Far Eastern flavors. You won’t find anything remotely resembling his pistachio-crusted chicken wings with hot and sour sauce at Atomic Wings.

Anecdotes

• At a recent cocktail party at Grayz, I felt like I was at the world’s most fabulous Bar Mitzvah. A line of chefs in pressed whites served Gray’s signature short ribs with grits, heaps of hand-made chestnut cavatelli, braised duck, pomegranate seeds, and pickled ramps. For dessert, I visited the Willy Wonka-styled chocolate station and gorged myself on the hand-rolled bon bons and truffles.

Credentials

• Gray Kunz is one of the most acclaimed chefs of our time. His cooking at Lespinasse received four Stars from the New York Times, and he was named Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef in 1993. Most recently, his work at Café Gray was awarded two stars from the New York Times as well as a Michelin Star.