Richman’s where to eat in NYC

Alan Richman, holder of 14 James Beard Foundation Journalism awards and famous writer for GQ, dishes on which restaurants to visit in New York for high cuisine. Anthony Bordain wrote an entire chapter titled “Alan Richman Is a Douchebag,” so he is clearly someone worth listening to.

The Four Seasons Restaurant (99 East 52nd Street, 212.754.9494)
“Not just the grandest and most beautiful restaurant in America, but perhaps the most spectacular ever. Eat here, and you’ll understand class. The death last summer of longtime chef Christian “Hitch” Albin and the recent departure of chef Fabio Trabocchi means that the culinary direction might be changing a bit, but you can expect American classics. Just don’t expect them to be inexpensive.”

La Grenouille (3 East 52nd Street, 212.752.1495)
“More than merely a year-round flower show for hungry horticultural societies. Indeed, the dining room is always in bloom, but more and more I appreciate the haute French cuisine, formidable and laudable. If only the wine list were as impeccable as everything else on the premises.”

Le Bernardin (155 West 51st Street, 212.554.1515)
“Eric Ripert is a genius with fish. The products are wonderful, the cooking faultless, the service masterful, and the sommelier (Aldo Sohn) rated the best in the world. Once, Le Bernardin was a French restaurant specializing in fish; now it’s a fish restaurant where not much is French, other than an insistence on culinary flawlessness.”

Veritas (43 East 20th Street, 212.353.3700)
“France might reign as the capital of winemaking, but New York is the capital of wine drinking. Not many restaurants anywhere have a list as heralded as the one here. (When you reserve, ask to have it emailed to you; otherwise, you might need an hour to look over the 3,000-plus choices.) While the wines have never been underrated, the excellent young chef, Gregory Pugin, tends to be.”

Marea (240 Central Park South, 212.582.5100)
“This Italian seafood restaurant seemed fully formed the moment it opened early in 2009, and it offers so many choices you’ll think a fishing armada had set sail to stock the kitchen. Nobody eating Michael White’s food ever complains that there’s nothing of interest on his menus. Don’t miss the fusilli with red wine–braised octopus and bone marrow, magnificent with a glass of red wine.”