NYC with 6 month old

We used to live in NYC, and are heading back there with out 6 month old who is normally well behaved. Does anyone have any baby friendly recommendations? We will go out early, 5-6ish. Our current plans include H&H bagels, a slice at Joe's Pizza for lunch, and Katz's. We are not interested in Chinese/Thai/Mexican/Ethiopian/Red sauce italian/Greek/German/Polish as we get good versions of that here in Chicago. French/bistro would be great or something "eclectic". We are considering Zen Palate. Our faves in NYC while living there were Gramercy Tavern, Balthazar, Xunta, Babbo, but aren't necessarily looking for something upscale.
Thanks,
LO

at that hour, you can go to lot's of places, I am a big fan of Savoy down in Soho. Peter Hoffman does lovely things with local and seasonal ingredients. I have not been to Prune but my sister raves on and on, it's a tiny little place but it sounds lovely and fun. (The chef has a signature appetizer of sardines served with triscuits).

good luck.

bjt

How about Les Halles? Simply french country fare. I always enjoyed Etat Unis on the uppser east side when I lived there- a great neighborhood place.

I just had a wondeful meal at Il Covo Dell'Est, on 13th and Avenue A. It's Northern Italian ala Lupa and Babbo, without the wait or the expense. I saw 2 tables with kids on a Saturday night.

I hadhad a wonderfully simple asparagus soup and homemade sweet pea ravioli with sage butter that was to die for.

Sounds like Blue Smoke to me. This slightly upscale (and by upscale I mean no bullet proof windows, a full bar, and table service) BBQ establishment has a family-friendly, clean environment that generally has a very upbeat service staff. At the early hours, you should have no problem feeling very comfortable. NYC isn’t known for it’s BBQ, but the ribs are better than any I’ve had here in Chicago. Plus, the sides are great—especially the hush puppies with jalapeno jelly. The owner, Danny Meyers (Union Square Café, Grammercy Tavern), consulted with Mike Mills (“the legend”) from 17th Street Bar and Grill, winner of three Memphis in May 1st place titles.

Blue Smoke
116 E 27th St
(212) 447-7733

Thanks for all the suggestions. We had thought about going to Les Halles ,but having eaten there in NYC and DC a few times, decided we wanted something different. So...
Lunch Friday - La Giara - one of our fave Italian places on 3rd/34th. Amazing Prix Fixe 13.95 gets u an app, entree, soda or coffee., I had the grilled calamari app with salad. Wonderfully charred, tender tasty. Main I had spaghetti with Lamb ragout - one of the best pasta dishes ever. A rich tomato ragout with chunks of meaty lamb over al dente pasta. Heaven. Hubby had spinach/smoked mozzarella ravioli for the main - delicate pillows of pasta, but the filling was a bit muted. Still quite tasty. I can't remember his app...I give it an A. service was fantastic also, they upgraded our house wines to a more pricey barolo(:
Dinner Friday - Zoe, Prince between Bway and Bleeker. This was named kid friendly in Bon Appetit. It was quite good - and they were great with Baby O. We split the fried calamari with asian dipping sauce - tender calamari with an almost tempura like coating. I had aioli crusted cod with spinach/marcona almonds/cockles - i loved the spinach combo, the fish was good, although the ailoi crust was a bit rich. Hubby had the duck, med rare, nice crispy skin and tender meat. Overall, I give it a B - it was a bit pricey. We had some interesting wine, i can't remember the name, i had a glass of Syrah from CA, it was $11 though, which I thought was a bit pricey.
Saturday brunch at the Nook - 9th ave around 49th or so - Tiny little place - very good. I had potato pancakes with smoked salmon hubby had the eggs benedict. I normally don't like hollandaise, but theirs was really light and quite enjoyable. I give it an A-, only b/c pancakes were a tad greasy. They also had amazing sourdough bread from the Sullivan St bakery.
Lunch/Dinner saturday - Grimaldis under the bridge in Brooklyn. The best pizza I have had. We had pepperoni mushroon and sausage mushroom and ended up ordering another pepperoni mushroom (we were with a group). The crust was crispy, fresh mozzarella, basil and out of this world pepperoni - smaller, but thicker cut, and spicy. I give it an A. For dessert we went to Jacque Torres chocolate. The neat thing there is you can have a small piece for .90 of several types of chocolate. I had the port dark chocolate, milk chocolate caramel and dark chocolate ganache. They all were amazing, the caramel was so fresh, rich yet light. I give an A.
Brunch sunday at Miracle Grill - also one of our old faves. Sitting outside in the garden in 85 degree weather sipping sangria, others had magaraitas including an excellent blood orange one. I had the chilaquiles, fantastic salsa, scrambled eggs and cheese with black beans. Everyone else had the breakfast burrito with eggs, peppers, salsa, cheese and chorizo and home fries. Comes with corn bread, that everyone liked. I give it an A.
Grabbed a Katz's pastrami for the flight back - i love the barely dilled pickles they give you. Sandwich held up well in the searing heat and trip to Newark.
Baby O did great on the flight, and in the restaurants -she is a true city girl.
LO