To gauge the striking revival in the Big Apple's economy, you could pick from a wide variety of statistics or symbols, from the ascending graph of Manhattan coop prices to the throngs of foreign tourists packing the 7 subway line to the U.S. Open. We modestly suggest a more telling barometer: what we'll call "The Steakhouse Index." That's our take on how those great, extremely pricey, expense-account-sensitive purveyors of prime aged beef and creamed spinach are faring a half-decade after the onset of the financial crisis.

    This writer's survey is more atmospheric than scientific, as it consists of witnessing the traffic and ambience while dining in late August at three renowned Midtown steakhouses and interviewing their owners and maître d's. The institutions, ranking among the top-grossing restaurants in America, are Del Frisco's (DFRG) Double Eagle Steak House, the ultimate hangout for financial power-players across from Rockefeller Center; Porter House New York, a virtual neighborhood canteen for the corporate elite in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle; and Smith & Wollensky, a bastion of tradition in a turn-of-the-last-century, white-and-green lattice home at the nexus of the ad industry on Third Avenue.

    The managers and owners of all three steakhouses agree that business still hasn't returned to the heady levels of the mid-2000s and perhaps never will. "We've just seen too many controls on spending by companies to get back to the heyday," says Scott Gould, regional manager for Del Frisco's Restaurant Group. Still, the spending at these culinary landmarks has rebounded strongly since the financial crisis -- retracing at least half the distance from the bottom -- and they're thriving even though Midtown now supports several more steakhouses than during the boom times.

    The sizzle is back for two reasons. First, big banks, ad agencies, and law firms are finally, though judiciously, re-loosening their wallets for entertaining. Second, hordes of affluent foreign tourists, lured by the weak dollar, are filling tables on weekends and late at night following an evening at a Broadway show.

    Among Manhattan business folk, the steak dinner is as much a staple for entertaining clients as the power breakfast. And tourists have long prized a visit to the Palm or Smith & Wollensky as a must-dine experience. But in the bubble years, the extravagance buried all tradition. "Groups of four investment bankers would order five bottles of sparkling water, and six appetizers, along with $250 bottles of Bordeaux," recalls Gould. Servings of Del Frisco's Royal Ossetra caviar flew off the menu. "It was a time for huge shellfish bouquets, colossal stone crab claws, and oversized steaks," marvels Michael Stillman, president of Fourth Wall Restaurants, manager of Smith & Wollensky.

    若要评估纽约引人注目的经济复苏，有一大堆的数据和事件可以作为参考，比如曼哈顿超市价格的上升图表，再比如外国游客蜂拥挤进地铁7号线观看美网公开赛。在此，我们推荐一项更生动的、被称为“牛排馆指数”的指标。一起来看看那些提供美味而昂贵的成熟牛肉和菠菜奶油沙司的供应商，在经济危机爆发后这五年是怎么过的。

    笔者的调查更侧重于对餐厅经营状况的感性认识，而不是科学分析。这份调查包括八月底在市中心三家著名的牛排餐厅观察人流量、感受经营氛围，同时也包括采访牛排餐厅店主和领班。美国人气最高的牛排餐厅中，排行最前的包括：德尔•弗里斯科的双鹰牛排馆（Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House），它是洛克菲勒中心（Rockefeller Center）里的金融大鳄的顶级去处；纽约波特牛排馆（Porter House New York），它是为哥伦比亚商圈（Columbus Circle）时代华纳中心（Time Warner Center）的企业精英们服务的社区餐厅；以及史密斯•沃伦斯基牛排馆（Smith & Wollensky），这是一栋位于第三大道广告业汇集处的白绿相间的格状建筑，是上世纪末的一处传统堡垒。

    三家牛排餐厅的经理和店主都承认，眼下的生意还是没有恢复到2005年左右的巅峰期，而且恐怕再也无法达到那个高度。德尔•弗里斯科餐饮集团（Del Frisco's Restaurant Group）的地区经理斯科特•古尔德说：“我们看到各公司推出了许多举措限制支出，以期重返全盛时代。”尽管如此，在这些地标性的餐厅，食客们的花费开始了金融危机后的强劲反弹——至少已经反弹了一半——与鼎盛期相比，市中心如今更多了几家牛排餐厅，但这些大牌餐厅的生意依旧蒸蒸日上。

    生意重新红火，原因有二。其一，大型银行、广告代理商和律师事务所终于明智地再次松开了他们娱乐消费的钱包。其二，受到美元走弱的诱惑，富裕的国外游客蜂拥而至。在周末和深夜体验了夜晚的百老汇音乐剧之后，他们让餐馆座无虚席。

    在曼哈顿的商业人士看来，牛排既可以作为招待客人用的主食，也可以作为充满活力的早餐。游客长期以来都将棕榈餐厅（Palm）或者史密斯•沃伦斯基牛排馆视为不可错过的用餐目的地。但是在泡沫经济的年代，这种奢侈埋葬了一切传统。古尔德回忆说：“成群结队的投资银行家会点上好些苏打水、开胃小菜，还有250美元一瓶的波尔多葡萄酒。”皇家奥斯特拉鱼子酱（Royal Ossetra caviar）从德尔•弗里斯科牛排馆的菜单上消失了。纽约第四面墙餐厅（Fourth Wall Restaurants）的董事长、史密斯•沃伦斯基牛排馆的经理迈克尔•斯蒂尔曼惊叹道：“那个时候，放眼望去，都是大型海贝、巨型石蟹和超大号牛排。” 

    In late 2008, the unbridled revelry stopped. "It happened really quickly, over a couple of months, and business dropped around 20%," says Stillman. At Del Frisco's, it wasn't that the number of customers dropped, it was what they spent. "The difference was in the drop in orders for high-end luxury items," recalls Gould. "Diners would get glasses of water instead of bottles, and three appetizers instead of five." It was clear that companies were getting frugal, imposing tight limits on what they'd pay for each person for an expense-account dinner. For Del Frisco's, the problems plaguing the banks weren't entirely bad for business, since the law firms handling their new regulatory problems started spending more freely than ever on its prime strip steaks and crispy Shanghai calamari.

    Porter House opened at the height of the party, in late 2006. "Diners would be looking out through our big windows at 15 Central Park West, one of the world's most expensive residences, being built. The new owners would come in to celebrate the closings," says Michael Lomonaco, the restaurant's executive chef and managing partner. Then, the world changed, and so did the menu. Steakhouses sell lots of expensive red wines. In the downturn, says Lomonaco, "we dug deep to find more value in wines." He introduced an array of Argentinian, Spanish, and Italian offerings at far lower prices than the traditional Bordeaux. "Malbec became the grape of the day," he says. Porter House even appealed to newly budget-conscious patrons by adding tasty-but-plebian hanger steak and skirt steak to the menu.

    At Smith & Wollensky, Stillman's biggest worry was that the whole celebratory appeal of the steakhouse experience had disappeared. "We're not a health food restaurant," he says, "people come in for small celebrations, like closing deals." He refers to the steakhouse élan with the Italian term "abbondanza," for abundance or extravagance. "Part of steakhouse lore took a hit," Stillman continues. "People felt uncomfortable indulging, they had a new sense of propriety because of troubles in the economy. It's a meal to let loose, and letting loose felt uncomfortable. That takes the edge off the classic steakhouse devil-may-care atmosphere."

    Today, the élan is back. At 6:30 on a recent Tuesday evening at Del Frisco's, the place was packed, with most diners in suits and ties, and surely on expense accounts. Gould notes that though business clients still aren't spending as much per person as at the peak, the tourists from nearby hotels fill the tables on weekends and after Broadway performances.

    At Porter House, the clientele is less business folk entertaining clients and more the affluent who live nearby. On an evening there late last year, this writer spotted Goldman Sachs (GS) chief Lloyd Blankfein, former Citigroup (C) chairman Dick Parsons, ex-Barclays (BCS) CEO Bob Diamond, and political pundit Dick Morris circulating among fellow luminaries. "Business really picked up in the fourth quarter of 2012," says Lomonaco. "It was a double-digit improvement over the bottom." Foreign visitors who shop their way to the Time Warner Center's fourth floor discover the Porter House and walk in sans reservations. "I've never seen this level of foreign diners, especially steak lovers from Brazil and Argentina," says Director of Operations Anthony Mardach. Lomonaco has even dropped the bargain hanger steak and added a $53 boneless strip.

    Stillman says Smith & Wollensky is holding more corporate parties for the thirtysomething set who work for private equity firms and tech companies that recently arrived in Midtown. And individual diners are spending a lot more than three years ago -- a tribute to the durability of steakhouse allure. "They're more sophisticated diners," he says. "They want to know about how long the steaks have been aged. They want to know about high-end Spanish wines, and wines from Oregon. They're a lot more savvy about how they spend their money. They want to know whether we're using local ingredients." It wasn't the same sense of whirlwind, shared experience when folks were settling for a small Caesar salad, he says.

    That old steakhouse spirit, and most of the spending, is back. The steakhouse splurge means New York is back. And if the Big Apple is back, well, that's got to be good for the whole steak-and-potatoes country.

    2008年末，无节制的狂欢停止了。斯蒂尔曼说：“事情发生得真突然，几个月的工夫，营业额就减少了约20%。”在德尔•弗里斯科牛排馆，减少的并不是顾客，而是他们的支出。古尔德说：“差异体现在高端奢侈品的消费量上。顾客开始喝白开水，而不是一瓶瓶苏打水；他们点的小菜数量也减少了，原来点五个的，现在就点三个。”很显然，各公司都开始厉行节约，严格限制了员工的餐费报销金额。而对德尔•弗里斯科牛排馆来说，困扰各大银行的问题对他们的生意并没有太糟糕的影响，因为处理银行监管问题的律师事务所在纽约客牛排和上海酥炸鱿鱼上的花费开始前所未有的大方。

    2006年末，也就是这场狂欢达到顶峰时，波特牛排馆开业了。餐厅的行政总厨、任事股东迈克尔•洛摩纳科说：“顾客可以从我们位于中央公园西大道15号的巨大窗户往外眺望，这是世界上在建的最昂贵的住宅之一。新的主人将会搬进来，庆祝它的落成。”然后，世界改变了，菜单也改变了。牛排馆本来出售大量昂贵的红葡萄酒。而洛摩纳科说，不景气的时期，“我们尽力找到葡萄酒内蕴含的更多价值。”他以远低于传统波尔多葡萄酒的价格引进了一系列阿根廷、西班牙和意大利的产品。他说：“马贝克（Malbec）成了当时最受欢迎的葡萄酒。”波特牛排馆甚至通过推出物美价廉的烤腹肉牛排和无骨牛肉条，吸引了精打细算的新顾客。

    在史密斯•沃伦斯基牛排馆，斯蒂尔曼最大的担忧是整个餐厅的欢乐氛围，这一吸引力已经消失无踪。他说：“我们不是一家健康食品餐厅。人们来这里是为了小小庆祝一番，比如达成交易之类。”他指的是牛排餐厅的活力，用意大利属于说就是“abbondanza”，意思是丰盛、奢侈。斯蒂尔曼接着说：“牛排餐厅的一些传统受到了影响。人们在其中已经感受不到舒适。由于经济问题，他们培养了新的礼节意识。用餐是为了放松，而放松让人感到不舒服。这减弱了传统牛排餐厅无所顾忌的氛围。”

    如今，这种活力回来了。在最近一个周二的晚上六点半，德尔•弗里斯科牛排馆店铺爆满，顾客大部分都西装革履，显然餐费可以报销。古尔德注意到，尽管公司顾客的消费量仍未达到巅峰时期，附近宾馆的游客却在周末和百老汇演出结束后挤满了这里。

    在波特牛排馆的顾客中，招待客户的商业人士减少了，住在附近的富人增加了。去年年末的一个晚上，笔者在一群杰出人士中看到了高盛投资公司（Goldman Sachs）的总裁劳埃德•布莱克芬、花旗集团（Citigroup）前董事长迪克•帕尔森，巴克莱银行（Barclays）前任CEO鲍勃•戴尔蒙德和政治权威人士迪克•莫里斯。任事股东洛摩纳科说：“2012年的第四季度，营业额确实有所增加。现在比起低谷期，涨幅已经达到两位数。”前往时代华纳中心四层购物的外国游客发现了波特牛排馆，毫不犹豫地进来坐坐。运营总监安东尼•马达赫表示：“我从来没见过这么多外国顾客，尤其是来自巴西和阿根廷的牛排爱好者。”罗曼纳克甚至在菜单中取消了廉价的烤腹肉牛排，另增了一款53美元的无骨纽约客牛排。

    斯蒂尔曼表示，史密斯•沃伦斯基牛排馆开始更多地为私募股权公司和最近落户市中心的科技公司举办公司聚会，聚会人群是这些公司的三十多岁、事业有成的员工。而个人客户的消费也远比三年前多——这是人们对牛排餐厅持久魅力的致敬。他说：“这些食客更有经验，他们会问牛排的年龄，想了解高端的西班牙葡萄酒和俄勒冈州的葡萄酒。他们更懂得如何花钱，想知道我们是否使用了当地的原料。”他说，这与人们曾满足于分享一小份凯撒沙拉时那种旋风般的感觉不尽相同。

    那古老的牛排餐厅精神，和在餐厅里的大部分开支，已经重新归来。牛排餐厅的生意兴隆，意味着纽约已经回到了从前。而如果纽约回到了从前，那么对于美国这个酷爱牛排和土豆的整个国度而言想必是一件值得庆幸的事情。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正