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Maremma
(Photo: Mark Peterson/Redux) |
Adam Platt
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- Jovia
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135 E. 62 St., 212-752-6000
The new Upper East Side home of the talented young chef Josh DeChellis is that rare restaurant that combines the scale and comfort of a neighborhood joint with first-class cooking. Where else can you enjoy coddled duck eggs, bowls of risotto folded with oysters, or delicate terrines of potted suckling pig, all while sitting at the bar, watching a ball game on TV?
Gael Greene
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- Bar Americain
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152 W. 52nd St., 212-265-9700
I escape the dizzying schlock of the new, so common among so many chefs these days, at Bar Americain, where Bobby Flay calmly perks up American classics with sane sophistication. Clam-and-sweet-potato chowder. Gulf shrimp and grits. Hot potato chips in blue-cheese sauce. Smoked-red-pepper mayo for great American fries. A deeply rich fisherman’s cioppino. And finally, whiskey cream éclairs, the irresistible crescendo.
Hal Rubenstein
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- Cookshop
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156 Tenth Ave., 212-924-4440
Whether you’ve just dropped a bundle at Prada or dropped off a bundle at the neighborhood laundry, Cookshop can get you to pull up a chair (a hardwood one, at that) and relax. Simple but deftly prepared pleasures like crunchy spiced hominy; duck livers in buttermilk; bluefish in an irresistible brine of molasses, cinnamon, coriander, and cardamom; and rabbit roasted on a vertical spit in a whirl of sage and garlic reveal Marc Meyer as an astonishingly confident chef who knows how to impress without fuss or foreign accents.
Rob Patronite
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- Blaue Gans
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139 Duane St., 212-571-8880
I’m a fool for the schnitzel. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about spaetzle. And, truth be told, I’ve developed a burning passion for schupfnudeln. Nearly everything else on the hearty but refined Austro-German wirtshaus menu is equally distracting�and who knew you could tuck into a blutwurstgröstl without immediately following up with a Pepcid-AC chaser?
Robin Raisfeld
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- Maremma
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228 W. 10th St., 212-645-0200
With dish names like �Earn Your Spurs� and �Sloppy Giuseppe,� Cesare Casella’s Tuscan cowboy concept rubbed some urban sophisticates the wrong way. But stripped of the whimsical wordplay, the same dishes�tender short ribs with grits (a.k.a. polenta), pulled oxtail over fettunta�earn my vote for some of the most immensely satisfying food in town. Friendly service, a comfortable setting, and a hyperregional wine list add to the singular appeal.