Aquavit may have moved to a cold, bland location, but the food is as warm and imaginative as ever.

Pining for an old-school steakhouse, with rib cuts for two wheeled out on trolleys and baked Alaska set ablaze tableside? Terrance Brennan feels your hunger pains.

Jonathan Waxman is back, this time dishing up rustic Italian—bucatini, bacalao, a lemony roast chicken—at the casually hip West Village bistro Barbuto.

At his new restaurant, gifted chef Laurent Tourondel puts concept over execution.

Chinghalle
50 Gansevoort Street
(212-242-3200). Dinner, Mon.-Wed. 5:30 p.m.-1 a.m., Thurs.-Sat. to 1:30 a.m., Sun. to 11 p.m.; appetizers, $7 to $16, entrées, $15 to $21.50. All major credit cards.

Tucked among the boutiques of Madison Avenue is Kai, a thoroughly neighborhood joint -- that is, if the neighborhood were the Upper East Side of Osaka.

(Classic New York) Those silent sentries are rarely as buttoned-down as they seem. -- Guide to Classic New York

At Pace, small-restaurant masters Danny Abrams and Jimmy Bradley are thinking big.

The aquatic treats at Sushi Seki are sometimes odd and always compelling. Perfect food for a cold winter night? Not to you, perhaps, but there are diehards who say absolutely.

At Public on Elizabeth, a bold—if sometimes perplexing—exploration of Australasian cooking.