Sorry Michael's, Lure Is Where the Big Media People Eat Now

Despite its attempts to stay relevant via a ridiculous twitter account and free iPad newspapers, Michael's in Midtown just isn't the power lunch spot it used to be. Entertainment business blog The Wrap suggests that the new media midday hangout is actually Soho's Lure Fishbar, where on any given weekday from noon-3PM, you're sure to see a collection of tech, startup, entertainment and young finance players eating, deal-making, talking shop and generally having a great time.

Part of its appeal may be the space: it's not a "fishbowl" like Michael's, but rather a flowing, subterranean dining room that "invokes the interior of European private yachts from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s." The food is solid, the restaurant has a notable, agreeable host in owner John McDonald, and although it can be a place for gossip, there's no obvious power hierarchy in the room.

McDonald has even noticed a migration of sorts: “I looked around the room two years ago, and there were all the major players in this young media space...And now I’m seeing a switch where even the midtown media executives all have to come downtown now.” Maybe if Michael's really wanted to stay relevant, they'd get an award-winning burger. Or their own silly bandz.
· Move Over Michael's: Lure is New York's New-Media Power-Lunch [The Wrap]
· All Lure Fishbar Coverage on Eater [~ENY~]

[Photo]