In a city of a billion choices, how do you decide where to eat, where to shop, where to get your Limoges tureen repaired? Our annual guide to the best of everything is the best place to start.

“I haven’t had good sea urchin in ages,” you think. “And I’m really, really in the mood for good sea urchin.” Any kind of sea urchin will do—fried, flambéed, you don’t care.

When Eric Zelwian, owner of Gemini Cut Glass, claims that his skillful workers “can handle any chandelier,” he’s not kidding.

If, as Gay Talese suggested, New York is a city of things unnoticed, then Tender Buttons is its chest full of hidden treasure.

Thai massage is sometimes called the “lazy man’s yoga,” because its assisted stretches give a lot of the benefits of a yoga class without the exertion.

The humble maki roll—raw fish and vegetables coated with vinegared rice and wrapped in the lightly toasted seaweed known as nori—is a staple of sushi menus. But it can also be a canvas for creativity, as the Rainbow Roll at Japonica proves.

Everyone’s a critic, goes the lament of the criticized. Now everyone’s a D.J. too—and there’s no better place in the city for fledglings or pros to outfit themselves than Turntable Lab.

Hats (the non-baseball-cap kind) seem to be perpetually on the verge of a comeback. But despite the best efforts of Kid Rock, it’s still rare to see anyone wearing a stately homburg or a ska-style stingy-brimmed porkpie.

Though it’s hard to believe, the Winter Antiques Show hasn’t always been the chic-est bazaar in town.

When the chill sets in, few things can warm the soul like a steaming bowl of vegetable soup.