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It takes guts to open a restaurant in Times Square that lacks a theme or strives to be classier than a carnival. Granted, Blue Fin offers an audacious voyeur's paradise in its soaring staircase that rises alongside a suspended abstract sculpture of a school of fish. But Steve Hanson is too masterly a crowd-pleaser to make a flight of fancy-clad diners the main attraction. He's created a 400-seat seafood-centric restaurant, unstinting in sophistication and skill, that will have you fighting your way across tourist-thronged Duffy Square in order to indulge in sushi offerings that match those of most any of the city's touted temples of spicy toro. But, memorable as these morsels are, you'd be a fool to forgo the other side of the menu, where chef Eric Woods equally rewards your perseverance with sautéed black bass in an evanescent pool of chive nage with a lush shrimp pumpkin and chanterelle risotto. Unless you have tickets to The Producers or Hairspray, Blue Fin may be the most satisfying way to give your regards to Broadway. — Hal Rubenstein

Brunch

Sat.–Sun., 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Hal Rubenstein's Full Review (4/29/02)

Best of New York Awards

• Best Lunch to Impress (2003)

Recipes at Blue Fin

• Frozen Melon Parfait (2002)