In a city where the place to be is always changing, one thing stays strangely consistent: the New York power lunch. Tried and true standards win out over new menus any day. Besides, the people at the table next to yours are much more important than whatever is on the plate. Below is our list of some of the best places to power lunch in New York. All of them are in midtown (four out of five are in the fifties and one is a crouton’s throw away at 62^nd), all have been around for at least 20 years and all of them are filled from noon to 2 p.m. with the city’s most elite diners.

Four Seasons Restaurant

New York’s movers and shakers have been lunching at the Four Seasons restaurant for 50 years. And it wasn’t just for the company, but for the food. When the restaurant opened in 1959, The New York Times reviewer said “There has never been a restaurant better keyed to the tempo of Manhattan than the Four Seasons.” Today, no restaurant has come along yet to steal its place. Town and Country has named The Four Seasons its “favorite restaurant in the world” and New York Magazine has deemed it the city’s “best power lunch”. In 1960, James Beard wrote that, “A luncheon I had at the Four Seasons…was perfect.” Order a Black Angus beef tenderloin or crab cakes with a poached organic egg and truffle from the seasonal menu. Dine in the Grill Room (site of JFK’s 45^th birthday celebration) with its big windows walnut-paneled walls and wooden bar.

The Four Seasons Restaurant is located at 99 East 52nd St. between Park and Lexington.