Jean Georges is apparently not worth the price, FYI. I haven't been to that one but that seems to be the consensus. I've had his food at a bunch of 'highly touted' places in NYC and it blows.

Vernick fish is good but not as good as the other Vernick.

I have no idea how these places work in terms of reservations around the holidays but I suspect it may be difficult to get one. If you're looking for other upscale, also consider laurel or friday saturday sunday. Or the aforementioned Vernick.