47 Gnudi (and everything else) at The Spotted Pig
314 West 11th Street, West Village (http:/ /thespottedpig.com) $$ It would be easy to write off The Spotted Pig as a scene-y hotspot— Jay-Z is an investor, after all—if only chef April Bloomfield’s food weren’t quite so good. Her skills are best experienced in the ricotta gnudi, which is soft and comforting enough to offset the two-storey pub’s rather cramped bar and dining quarters.
48 Dinner at Torrisi Italian Specialities
250 Mulberry Street, Nolita (www. torrisinyc.com) $$ Since opening in 2009 the ambitions, and the menu, have grown substantially at this tiny ode to New York’s Italian-American heritage. The much-written-about, nightly changing prix-fixe (which features the softest, fluffiest mozzarella you’ll ever have) is still available, but don’t shy away from the longer, 20-course tasting menu option, either.
49 The ‘progressive’ tasting menu at wd~50
50 Clinton Street (http:/ /wd-50. com) $$$ Modernist chef Wylie Dufresne made waves among the city’s most devout food-lovers when he switched his almost-decade-old restaurant format to one that only offers a choice of tasting menus. No matter: Dufresne’s mad-scientist concoctions—egg yolks cured in Italian amaro, Vietnamese pho soup made with foie gras, a foie gras torchon that ‘bleeds’ beetroot juice when you cut into it—truly benefit from the menu’s new progressive format.
50 Masterful seafood at Le Bernardin
155 West 51st Street, Midtown (http:/ /le-bernardin.com) $$$ The Midtown temple to all things aquatic well deserves the nearconstant stream of praise it receives. Spartan, near-perfect seafood preparations from the prix-fixe menu— divided into the sections ‘almost raw’ , ‘barely touched’ and ‘lightly cooked’— , are the main focus. If you can’t get a reservation (they can be very tough to come by), grab a seat in the lounge area, where the full and à la carte menus are served. 177
photographs: noah fecks; michael turek