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Life in New York is fast, noisy, and rude, a welcome reminder that we're in the place we've always wanted to be. Regrettably, this state of perpetual frenzy has extended to our eating habits. Instead of finding comfort in the pleasures of fine dining, we're replicating our workdays by patronizing restaurants that rush us through goopy burgers and soupy pastas. I sometimes wonder if we've lost the will to eat well.
New York remains a city of great restaurants—you know the ones I mean. Without them, we would possess a cultural landscape not much different from hundreds of other cities the world cares nothing about. It's the restaurants of impeccable standards that put New York on a par with the other great cities of the world.
I'm talking about establishments where the cooks have trained for most of their lives, merely for the opportunity to prepare food for people like you. The ones that hire decorators to decide what bouquets and china to buy, that educate service staffs to understand instantly the needs of a patron who glances over his shoulder. I'm talking of restaurants that have refused to falter, which takes perseverance and pride.
Fine dining has to remain part of our culture. Without it, New York as we know it doesn't exist. It's no small part, either. It's not a chamber music society or the National Lighthouse Museum, swell as those might be. It has the potential to enhance the life of every person who has ever shown an interest in food. And it's shockingly democratic, not elitist at all. I've never met a person who couldn't appreciate an upscale meal if given the opportunity to experience one. If we don't support fine dining here, where in this country will it thrive? Maybe San Francisco has the culture and Los Angeles the wealth, but only New York has both.
In the past two months, I ate at more than 20 New York restaurants that I thought might qualify as one of the best in the city. My goal was to come up with a list of the top ten. Food, wine, and service were my top priorities. Ambience—so difficult to evaluate in these unceremonious times—was part of the mix, too. Every one of the ten places I selected is a reason to dine in this city and not somewhere else.
