Jean Georges
Jean Georges' superstar pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini sugar-shocks diners with unexpected pairings of flavors and textures, like chocolate ravioli with goat cheese, mascarpone, robiola, vanilla bean, and orange zest. Themes change seasonally.
1 Central Park W., between 60th and 61st Sts., 212-299-3900
Beppe
This cozy Gramercy trattoria—one of New York's best Italian restaurants since it opened in 2001—serves chef Cesare Casella's luscious Tuscan fare. Casella’s cozze (pan-roasted mussels) are plump and sweet in a fiery broth; chewy handmade pinci noodles in walnut-tomato sauce are a triumph; and the braised black cabbage in toasted Tuscan bread will sate any carb cravings.
45 E. 22nd St., between Broadway and Park Ave. S., 212-982-8422
Blue Smoke
Danny Meyer's smoking barbecue joint is helmed by pit master Kenny Callaghan, who dazzles diners with burgers and brisket, not to mention smoked lamb shoulder, salt-and-pepper beef ribs, pit-smoked foie gras, and hand-roasted salmon. Even sides like collards and cole slaw are finger-licking good.
DB Bistro Moderne
In Daniel Boulud's hands, the humble hamburger is transformed into the ultimate luxury item. The noble (and somewhat infamous) $29 DB Burger is stuffed with truffle-and-foie gras-laced short ribs, and is accompanied by pommes frites on the side.
Plan B: At $6, Corner Bistro's eight-ounce slab of juicy grilled beef—piled several inches high with melted cheese, bacon, and raw onion—is one of the city's tastiest beef bargains.
DB Bistro Moderne: 155 W. 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth Aves., 212-391-2400
Café Sabarsky
Housed in the Neue Galerie, the café is an elegant evocation of a Viennese-style kaffeehaus with rattan newspaper holders (filled with Austrian newspapers), plenty of delicious Viennese pastries, and coffee served the old-fashioned way: on a silver tray with a cup of water on the side.
Chennai Garden
What elevates Chennai Garden’s unlimited $5.95 spread above the entrenched Curry Hill competition is its spiffy setting and the freshness, flavor, and variety of dishes. Line up for daily dal, subtly spiced vegetable curry, saffron-hued cabbage, and silky, floral-scented puddings for dessert.
Strip House
You won't find a better steak anywhere than the $70 double-cut New York strip served in this aptly blood-red beef den. Crunch through a slightly salty, exquisitely seasoned crust into the tenderest, most mouth-fillingly flavorful beef imaginable. Add a hot little igloo of potatoes fried in goose fat and perfect spinach in truffled cream, and you'll never suffer lesser steakhouses again.
Plan B: At Daniel, Daniel Boulud shows he knows meat with extraordinary, sumptuously juicy red-wine-braised ribs paired with a peppered filet mignon.
Lever House Restaurant
Say "power lunch" in this town and most New Yorkers picture the recently opened Lever House or the classic Four Seasons. For service, you just can't beat the new kid. The professional, personable, and (very) good-looking group of LH servers has an acute awareness that it’s ultimately the customers who should feel fabulous, not them.
Plan B: The Four Seasons still has the most perfect dining rooms in town. Happily, they've radically altered an expensive menu to be more inventive, more seasoned, more current, and worth the bucks. "Just slouching at the bar feels powerful," says critic Adam Platt.
Lever House: 390 Park Ave., at 53rd St., 212-888-2700, leverhouse.com
The Four Seasons: 99 E. 52nd St., between Lexington and Park Aves., 212-754-9494
Florent
This fab version of a late-night Les Halles coffee shop serves fragrant mussels, dense boudin noir, and crispy herbed half-chicken for not much more than you'd pay for grilled cheese in a greasy spoon.
69 Gansevoort St., between Greenwich and Washington Sts., 212-989-5779, restaurantflorent.com
Prune
Prune's phenomenal weekend brunch is worth the trip just to read chef-owner Gabrielle Hamilton's truly inspired menu, which features nine creative variations on the Bloody Mary theme, plus unusual offerings like a marvelously peppery spaghetti carbonara and a killer Monte Cristo with a side of fried eggs and red-currant jelly.
54 E. 1st St., between First and Second Aves.
Le Bernardin
At this internationally renowned French seafood restaurant—one of the city's top restaurants—even chef Eric Ripert's version of the baked potato is straight from the sea: it’s a savory mash of dill-scented smoked salmon, potato crème fraîche, and Osetra caviar. 155 W. 51st St., between Sixth and Seventh Aves., 212-554-1515
