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Jean Georges
1 Central Park West
Manhattan, NY 10023-7703
212-299-3900

Hours: Mon-Fri: lunch Mon-Sat: dinner

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FRENCH. Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten reinvented French cuisine when he opened his first restaurant in the city, Jo Jo. His concepts were straightforward: use the best and freshest ingredients and enhance them with herb-infused oils and broths; keep the dining room elegantly spare; and focus on the food, not the celebrities who come to eat it.

Vongerichten has gone global, with branches on four continents, but his restaurants stick to the rules. Although you have about as much chance of eating a meal prepared by the master as you do of turning up at a state dinner at the White House, you can sample Vongerichten's technique at Jean Georges.

Overlooking the park at Columbus Circle, there are two dining rooms at 1 Central Park West: the more relaxed Nougatine Bistro, with its bar and glassed-in kitchen; and the more formal dining room at Jean Georges. If you choose the latter, you enter a minimalist space done in tones of bone, taupe, and silver, where the large windows give a view of the Park. In summer, there's a terrace with outdoor tables. All year long, the restaurant offers a four-course prix-fixe lunch, a three-course dinner, and a chef's tasting menu.

The food is imaginative and well thought out: sea scallops with caper-raisin emulsion is one of the signature appetizers; lobster comes in its own broth; and lamb is crusted with trumpet mushrooms. Many dishes are finished tableside by deft waiters carving beef here or garnishing a dish there. All the service is, as you would expect, professional; what you might not expect is the level of friendliness that pervades the place. This is high-style dining without the attitude.

Compiled by Linda Perney