F: Is for Presto, Flying High!

What with all the crane accident in New York, today's column may have some of you feeling a panic attack coming on. Have you been looking for a terrific place to propose? How about throwing that once in a lifetime sweet 16 ( hello VH1) ? Or are you looking to impress a guest list of no more than 22? Well here is the most unique way I have ever seen. Dinner in the Sky, allows you to pick the location and up, up and away, you and your guests will fly. Music, dinner (breakfast or lunch), private chefs, and the world is at your feet. Need to go to the bathroom? Not a problem, one restaurant going down. What is dinner in the sky you ask? It is a table suspended at a height of 50 metres by a team of professionals, with three of your own personal staff a chef, waiter and entertainer at your command. You can also include a second crane with a platform (or more if desired) at the same height as the table, for entertainment such as trio or presentations (i.e. a car). Talk about making a media splash! This is not for those of you with a fear of heights, but for those of us with a spirit wanting to fly, as a part of our dreams have been realized. Not only that it is an entirely legal way of getting high over dinner. Forbes ranks Dinner In The Sky among the world's top ten most unusual restaurants, alongside Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in England (snail porridge, anyone?) and Ninja in New York, where waiters perform magic while serving sushi. Hiya!

Ninja is an absolutely awesome restaurant on three dimensions: food, decor & service. The entire building has been built to resemble a traditional Japanese village; every table has four walls and a roof, which makes dining a very cosy experience which makes reservations a must. Ninja is hidden in lower manhattan, a few blocks away from City Hall between Duane and Reade.
Once you enter you are in a dimly lit room but be in alert mode as ninja's lurk everywhere. After all this is their lair. The menu's are scroll and all the different menus combined into one scroll. Drinks are around $12 and the house special is Toh sweet champagne with one lychee. It is pricey, ranging $10 to $20 for appetizers, $20 to $50 for entrees, ala carte sushi, $6 to $12; maki rolls, $10 to $15; desserts, $10 to $12; tasting menus, $80 to $200 at dinner, $40 to $60 at lunch. The Tamate Bako* treasure box, us prime beef tartar topped with boiled egg yolk and white, served with minced shallot, tomato, chive and caper on the top, sounded quite yummy! And the sushi Rolls are getting rave reviews. Now comes the coolest part after your main course, a magician will pop into your room to entertain you with magic tricks. A Bon Sai tiramisu with a twisted sugar sounds like the perfect selection to end this unique dinning experience. The critics reviews range from the Times hating it to Forbes loving it.

Dinning experiences like most things in life are individual in taste. So whether it is abracadabra or a birds eye view that excite you these to places are sure to thrill and that is a F.A.C.T.