No Credit Cards Accepted Here -- Wise Move!

I don't know what dinner at Sette Mezzo costs because my friend George obviously gets a bill sent home monthly. I never see cash nor do they take credit cards and mostly they recite the menu fortunately leaving off the price du jour for the turbot and truffles (this isn't Red Lobster).

But with your nose pressed against the window from outside, one can see Saul Steinberg and his sons at one table and Ralph and Ricky Lauren at another and the best and worst thing is you can hear everyone's conversation. In fact, last night George and I moved tables because we were practically sitting in Saul's lap and listening wasn't even an option it was so loud.

The owner now kisses me on each cheek because I'm usually with someone important and this place is all about who's in the room. Unlike Swifty's — its American counterpart up the block — Sette Mezzo has been the loud money night time neighborhood restaurant of choice, kind of for the crowd that lunches at Michael's and enjoys visibility and some abuse from the owners.

Even I was impressed one night this summer when Valentino came in with his bodyguards and Ralph Lauren went over to hug him. I remember thinking it was the ultimate New York moment and any tourist — who actually couldn't get into Sette Mezzo in the first place — would never forget it. New Yorkers are a bit more used to this because on any given day, there's a celebrity walking the streets and barely a head turns. We tend to give them their space and privacy or maybe they don't mean much anymore. (I did stand in line twice to see the Pope and waved madly as the Popemobile went along and I still get a kick out of seeing ousted Royalty like the Farah Diba.)

Because the tables at Sette Mezzo are squished together, it's hard to avoid being drawn into other people's conversations. The couple at the next table related a story about a woman who left the restaurant one night waving to everyone as she passed by but my fellow diner was clueless until someone mentioned it was a famous cosmetic dermatologist who took care of all the wrinkles and splotches in the room. Even she was a celebrity!

My feeling about New York dining is it's about the buzz and if a restaurant doesn't have it, I'd rather eat at home watching CNN. One would never know from this restaurant that we've fallen on hard times or is it possible they're eating out of nervousness? The Last Supper redux?

Comments

[JBS]

Let them eat cake!

[booker52]

Doesn't sound like a place I would go to. Thanks, but no thanks!!! What does this have to do with credit cards??? And do I care about the name dropping?? Big fat not.

[dadw5boys]

GET TO KNOW YOUR STATE DEBT AGING LAWS !!!!

MOST DEBTS CAN BE WRITTEN OFF AFTER 6 YEARS !!!!

IF YOU HAVE NOT TRANSFERED THE DEBT !

A TRNASFER STARTS THE 6 YEARS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

[ICUP]

An all cash business..­..hmmmm... that'd allow the owners not to report all the income and thus pay less than their fair share of taxes. Wonder if the author thought about that or if she ever asked how much the dishwashers and busboys make?

[HockeyMom]

The relevance is that as the economy turns down some people will still eat steak.

[Paul]

I go to In 'N Out.

They don't take credit cards either but the food is probably better.

[deleweye]

How's the food?

[zanzig]

Any AIG executives among the diners?

[johntal]

the topic of credit cards makes me consider one awful possibility that I have not seen addressed anywhere else.
What if your bank were to go out of business ; and you were to try to redeem your saving from the FDIC, only to find that something happened to the computers that hold the proof of what your savings account contained?
This may sound 'conspiracy theory' type stuff, but I would recommend that everybody keep their passbooks and every other form of hard copy up to date

[Glenn1441]

I too am a New Yorker, and though Ms. Perry is of undoubted talent as an editor and writer, I simply do not see the relevance of this post.

If the writer's intention is to draw attention to the fact that the Sette Mezzo crowd is blithely dancing on the edge of a well-polished Christofle knife while global economies shudder and markets stomp up and down, then I kindly suggest she stitch her argument together more tightly.

[independentwoman]

I can't help it. This is really a nonsense article but I take offense at the elitist, "Aren't I important" attitude of the writer. I live in the neighborhood and have dinner at Sette Mezzo often. While it can be a who's who of New York dining, it is also very much a lively neighborhood place; not snobby, even when Oprah is there, and open to all. And yes, I have even seen tourists there! My husband and I have even "treated" a young couple once who didn't have cash and couldn't get enough money out of the atm to pay the entire bill. New Yorkers are like everyone else. Don't let others try to convince you otherwise.

[scooperss]

Is this on the wrong page or something? Did I miss Huffpo and go the critics corner?

[Meanwhile]

Umm ... what does any of this have to do with anything?