Two restaurants whose owners once worked at Peter Luger Steak House give perennial award winners like Per Se and Marea a run for their money in the 2015 Zagat Guide to New York City restaurants, released on Wednesday.
Benjamin Steak House in the Dylan Hotel on East 41st Street received a high score, 27 out of a possible 30, for its food. Sea Fire Grill, a steak and seafood restaurant on East 48th Street, came in with a 28.
Neither made it into the top food list last year. This year, Sea Fire Grill was just ahead of Per Se in the overall food rankings. In the seafood category, it was ahead of Marea and just below Le Bernardin. For steaks, Benjamin Steak House came in second only to Peter Luger, the famed 1887 steakhouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
There are many methods to rating restaurants; all are subject to second-guessing. Per Se, with three Michelin stars, slipped in every way in the Zagat Guide. It dropped to sixth from No.1 in the category of American food and even declined in service and décor.
Long before the arrival of Yelp and TripAdvisor, there was Zagat, relying on consumers’ votes, rather than critics’ expertise, to rate restaurants. The guide was the brainchild of Tim and Nina Zagat, corporate lawyers who began polling friends about restaurants and within a few years were publishing guidebooks. Once based upon paper surveys, the system is now online and owned by Google. This year more than 30,000 diners participated.
Sea Fire Grill and Benjamin Steak House are owned by Peter Luger alumni Arturo McLeod and Benjamin Prelvukaj and have crowd-pleasing menus, including items like baked clams, whole lobsters, grilled fish and steaks. And both court celebrities like William Shatner and Kim Kardashian.
This year’s Zagat Guide also has more extensive listings of new restaurants and trends. The Best Buys listings have been changed to $40 and under, from $25 and under, to reflect inflation, a Google spokeswoman said.