New York’s most beautiful private dining rooms

Bringing everyone together is what the holiday season is all about – especially when it’s over plate after plate of the city’s best food. So, in anticipation of a season spent eating and drinking with loved ones, we’ve rounded up some of NYC’s most distinctive and special private dining spaces, suitable for parties big or small. 

Le Pavillon

The Garden Table

Despite being located in the middle of chef Daniel Boulud’s refined French restaurant, this greenery-filled room feels like another world. The semi-private space, which seats up to 14 guests, is filled with manicured plants and features soaring ceilings and views of the Chrysler Building. Its menu showcases the signature seafood and vegetable-forward dishes that have made Le Pavillon famous, such as butter-poached Maine lobster and a perfectly balanced cheese and onion tart.

Le Veau d’Or  

Private Dining Room 

Is this about to be the most coveted private dining room in NYC? Already a long-standing favourite amongst French-leaning diners, Le Veau d’Or has recently reemerged from a five-year-long renovation, which has added extra bells and whistles to its almost century-old décor. And from September, you’ll be able to book the 20-seat private dining room upstairs, which continues the red-and-white checkered vibe of the main restaurant and serves more of the same classic French bistro dishes. 

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria 

Wine Cellar 

Originally opened as an antique store on NoHo’s cobblestoned Bond Street, every element of Il Boco is filled with Italian farmhouse-style magic. But if you head down a flight of stairs from the main dining room, you’ll discover a rustic private space filled with old world charm – as well as the restaurant’s entire wine collection. There’s space for up to 26 diners who all sit around one, long, candlelit table and share a selection of Il Buco’s famed pasta, antipasti, and dolci.      

BONDST Hudson Yards 

Private Dining Room and the Garden Room 

For the last 25 years, Bondst has been one of NoHo’s most fashionable restaurants. And this year, it opened its second location in Hudson Yards, pairing its signature elevated Japanese aesthetic with river views. It has two spaces for hire; the first seats 24 and is enclosed within Japanese screen doors, whilst the second seats up to 65 in a bamboo-encircled space that feels reminiscent of a garden in Kyoto.  

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Private Dining Room 

It’s only fitting that a restaurant located next to the Museum of Modern Art should have a beautiful private room. And beautiful it is; lit by a lantern-like lighting installation by artist Jorge Pardo, the space is dark and impressive, with space for up to 22 guests along its dark wood table. The menu is a mix of the restaurant’s contemporary Asian cuisine – there truly is something for everyone, making this a real crowd pleaser.  

Freemans

The Blue Room, The Red Room, The Drawing Room, and Banzarbar

A true New York classic, Freemans occupies a manor house at the end of a tiny alley on the Lower East Side – a unique setting for sure. Each of the rooms on the second floor, as well as the private cocktail bar, can be rented individually or all together for a larger event – and doing this grants you access to the coveted Drawing Room (pictured here). Decorated with a rustic style in homage to a colonial American tavern, this is a place for simple and familiar food in beautiful surrounds.  

Waverly Inn

The Garden

Although not as wild or hard to get into as it once may have been, Graydon Carter's restaurant in the West Village is still a downtown favourite. The sceney restaurant serves classic American home cooking, spotlighting fresh ingredients with thoughtful preparation. For an exclusive event, reserve the enclosed back garden. Year-round, it offers a cosy (thank you, heat lamps) and coveted atmosphere for a mid-size gathering. 

Gramercy Tavern

The Private Dining Room

One of New York’s most popular restaurants, a dinner party at Gramercy Tavern is truly a memorable experience. The 22-seat private space is a dining room in the most elevated sense; all-American antiques line a mahogany cabinet, itself antique, and the dining table is a handcrafted piece by Maine artist Greg Lipton. Seasonal menus show off the best of American produce, and you can further decorate the room with floral arrangements from the restaurant’s florist, Roberta Bendavid. 

The East Pole Kitchen & Bar

Map Room and Copper Bar Room 

Despite its uptown address, this beautiful brownstone has a downtown vibe – and it stays open late, rare for uptown. Its intimate, polished vibe makes it a cosy venue for small to medium-sized parties, with both rooms on the second floor available for bookings (either separately or together, for up to 75 guests). We love the Map Room most, though, which is adorned with antique maps looks over a quaint tree-lined street. The seasonal farm-to-table menu is excellent shared and features local seafood from Long Island.  

Misi

The Pasta Room

Misi is the second Williamsburg restaurant from one of New York's most revered Italian chefs, Missy Robbins. As the seasonal menu spotlights an assortment of homemade pasta (alongside delicious starters), a private event here is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. The intimate Pasta Room seats up to 20 guests at two tables and feels a bit like dining at a chef's table – and it is, somewhat, as this is where the restaurant's pasta is made daily. 

M.Wells

The Ostrich Room

Stepping into the Ostrich Room feels like stepping back in time – not least because it’s the dark, intimate back room of an innovative restaurant inside a former autobody shop. The rich menu spotlights upgraded steakhouse classics with a modern twist – like, bavette with shiitake butter and French fries. Plus, the team loves to host a party, meaning every detail will be attended to and executed perfectly.