The family’s crown jewel reopened after a long shuttering with a sleek new look and the same delicious, if overpriced, Italian food. You are meant to feel that you are entering a yacht with a porthole just within the front door. Nautical wood paneling lends a yachty aura and the tables and chairs are so small that they seem designed for life below deck, yet the crowd still packs in nightly. The chef does turn out exquisite pastas, veals and salads. Standouts: the artichoke and avocado salad, the veal piccata and homemade raviolis. Prepare yourself for intense people-watching though. The crowd truly verges on Felliniesque with extreme hairdos, face lifts and implants on parade. One recent night the gathering included Charlie Rose, the Gastineau girls, Mica Ertegun, Linda Wachner and various wealthy widowers in the company of much younger Russian ladies.

Eric Ripert, who has been heading the kitchen at Le Bernardin since the early nineties, may do the occasional stint on TV show Top Chef, but unlike some other super chefs, he doesn’t have numerous outposts or commercial deals, preferring instead to stay in the kitchen of this hallowed restaurant. At lunch, the place can feel a bit corporate, since it draws a more serious business crowd (it’s in Midtown), but at dinner, the grand dining room, with light-wood-paneled walls, feels intimate and special. Expect impeccably prepared French haute cuisine; Ripert is celebrated for his seafood renderings, but he also has a delicate touch with meat dishes. Le Bernardin is one of the few New York spots to have been awarded three Michelin stars.

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This sleek Italian restaurant features a Tuscan-inspired menu and diners can sense that it is a family affair. Sirio Maccioni, the legendary owner of Le Cirque and Circo about opening this restaurant in 1996: “Our business plan was simple, Dad’s hospitality, Mom’s Food, run by the sons.” Obviously the concept worked and Circo is still going strong with good food and an even better atmosphere.