If he's still serving the tasting menu, I find it hard to believe he's no longer in the kitchen, as it's one of the most hands on tasting menu's curently being served in the city. Carlo emailed several times prior to the meal, and then serves and introduces every course himself. And yes, Sifton is right on with his praise-one of the best meals i've ever had. It's adventurous and imaginative, while stil very sophisticated cooking.

Avenue is long branch is essentially french bistro fare served in a trying to hard, "hip" environment.

Torrisi Italian Specialties isnt molecular gastronmy, but definetly worth checking out, and would fit exactly in your budget (50 for food, 25 for the wine pairing).

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Torrisi Italian Specialties
250 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012

Had the duck on the Friday, and it was one of the most memorable entrees I've had in quite some time. I'm still dreaming of that skin. It literally left me speechless.

Baci and Abracci, Fiore, and Il Passatore priced italian and generally excellent options in the neighborhood.

Roberta's has a resonable group package, but you'll likely not be able to book it with such short notice.

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Baci & Abbracci
204 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Il Passatore
14 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Roberta's
261 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Fiore
284 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

you can definently just order desert in the salon area of per se. if you go to website, you can see their current prices.

The Lawrencveille BYOB's arent too far (about a five minute drive)
Vidalia
Acacia
Dennis Foy's

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Vidalia Restaurant
21 Phillips Ave, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648

Cafe Katja, Sorella, and DBGB are my current fav's before a show. If your looking for more a scene Freeman's and Kenmare isn't too far either. Torrisi Italian specialties is only a couple of blocks away too.

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Cafe Katja
79 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002

Sorella
95 Allen St, New York, NY 10002

DBGB
299 Bowery, New York, NY 10003

My two fav's in the area are Elements and Enoterra.

Del Posto now offers a fanastic prix fix on wed-fri, for $29. It includes a couple of amuss, an appetizer or pasta, a secondi, a dessert, and then a flood of petit fours. If you want an extra course, I'm sure you can ask them for a supplement, though it's a ton of food as is.

They're supposed to start serving lunch today. I

SHO does have a five course tasting menu which I think was around $95, and includes all of the chef's signature dishes. There were also plenty of bottles in the 50-80 range, and the sommelier was very helpful.

For thai, your best bets would either be Vong or Kiitchai. For indian, you may want to check out Vermilion in midtown.

Dressler in brooklyn isurrently offers a five course tasting menu for $45, Sun-Thurs. It's a fantastic value, and a lot of food.

I was able to get two tickets last week, heres how it worked for me:

Last monday, I used the link momofuku had on their website, requested a code on the le fooding website., and was promptly emailed the access code. I to request two tickets to saturday night on the website, but was never asked to give any payment info or anything. The next day I I got an email from action against hunger asking for my credit card info, and after I emailed them back my credit card number (I could of called them directly as well), they then finally sent me a receipt, and charged my card.

Sho Shaun Hergatt currently offers a 5 course tasting menu for $95, which for the quality of the dishes, is a fantastic value.

Yeah, Pastis. Sorry about the typo. I remember a couple of reviews making a point to mention it when the movie first came out., and how it fits into Allen's imaginary new york where everyone has money.

It's Patis.

Momofuku Ssam bar used to offer a tasting menu for around $70 i think. I havent been in awhile, so I'm not sure if they still offer it, or if the price has gone up.

While the burger is memorable, the entree's on the the "Grillades" section is where the real action is at. The new york strip I had there was fantastic and the other week they were offering a pork shop special, which was probably the best pork shop I've ever had. At $26 it's steal.
I can't help you out on the appetizers as nothing really wowed me yet, but just a warning...while delicious, the omelet is comically tiny.

You're best bet is probably either Death and Co (6th street between 1st and A) , or Mayahuel (6th street between 1st and 2nd ave, as they have some of the best mixoogists in the city.

Though it's a bit of a walk (about six blocks), I'd also recommend getting a drink at Allen and Delancey, since all their cocktails are half off on Tuesdays.

Corkage is free on Sundays (they even gave me a free bottle opener to keep). Otherwise, I believe it's $20.

The corkage at the modern is relatviely low ($20 I think), so you may want to byob, if cost really is an issue.

I cant speak from experience, but Frank Bruni (the nytimes food critic) called his lunch at le bernadin last year, his favorite meal of the year.

The suckling pig is one of the signature dishes here and its fantastic.

If you're in the mood to check out some non-traditional ,sometimes experimental ceviche, check out Desnuda in the east village. The scene sounds like its exactly what you're looking for, and the food is certainly unique.

http://www.desnudany.com/

not too many people know about it. everytime i'm there the place is usually empty, even though the one in soho is consistently packed.

You might want to check out Mooncake Foods on 30th and 8th. They have a lot of asian inspired sandwiches.

http://www.mooncakefoods.com

The Corton prix fix is $79, thus the breakdown is about $27 app, $40 entree, $12 dessert., give or take a couple of dollars. Given this, the extra $42 is about right, though a little bit on the steep side as the prix fix also includes the cost of the amuse.
That being said, since you skipped dessert, they really should of found a way of comping you the the cost of the desserts you skipped, which is only fair.

Are you sure Corton is fully booked? Have you tried calling them? Opentable is a tad misleading as corton seems to hold the majority of tables for people calling on the the phone. I just now made a reservation there for may16th (my bday).

I wouldnt spend a special occasion at Allen and Delancey, as while the decor is striking, the food is nothing too exciting.