Belgian cooking is New York's unlikeliest new foreign fad since the work of Jacques Derrida. Will it catch on? Stranger things have happened.

When they go out for Chinese, Upper West Siders are used to taking unnecessary culinary risks, but Ruby Foo's dramatically improves the odds.

Just when the city seems about to drown in a sea of mediocre Indian food, along comes Tabla -- with its two tiers and two complete menus -- to turn the tide.

It's the attention to detail -- in its curry nage, in its wine list, in its air-conditioning duct -- that makes Scott Bryan's Veritas such an instant success.

The location is loaded with bad karma, but Calle Ocho still beats the odds -- further proof that the Upper West Side isn't the diner's nightmare it used to be.

There are two kinds of food magnates today: repeat offenders who recycle one idea ad nauseam, and risk-hungry imagineers who never travel the same road twice.

The menu at L-Ray sounds old, but chef Aaron Sanchez has got some new mojo working.