ARCHIVES

Matsuri is that rarest of things: a grand, lavishly decorated Japanese restaurant where the food lives up to the room.

Cutting-edge food is alive and well in New York. It just comes in small packages. Take Josh DeChellis’s West Village standout, Sumile.

At his new, unrelentingly rustic Upper West Side Italian joint, Tom Valenti delivers equal measures of elegance, neighborly bonhomie, and bulk.

Alain Ducasse’s Mix in New York offers an eclectic blend of homey American and European dishes that ultimately just doesn’t jell.

St. Lucia’s famed Pitons are just one of the Caribbean hideaway’s draws. There are pristine beaches, lush rain forests, and a refreshing lack of posing vacationers.

At Schiller’s Liquor Bar, bistro and brasserie king Keith McNally brings steak-frites, cloudy mirrors, and yards of brass railings to the Lower East Side.

Soho’s 325 Spring Street dishes up truffles in virtually every conceivable way (truffle pizza? truffle jelly?). The results? Comme ci, comme ça.

Spun off from two popular Italian sandwich bars, ’inoteca and Bread Tribeca are full-fledged ristorantes.

Sueños means “dreams” in Spanish. With potent margaritas and fresh south-of-the-border cuisine, the restaurant may well inspire visions.

Ida Mae Kitchen-n-Lounge brings down-home southern cooking north, then gives it a decidedly Manhattan twist.