Café Boulud

Daniel Boulud's Café Boulud has been an Upper East Side fixture since 1998, and since 2023 it has lived on a corner of East 63rd Street at Maison Barnes, in a polished, Art Deco-inspired dining room of pale velvet banquettes and white marble. Voices stay low, plates arrive from the left, and the crumb sweeper is busy.

Under executive chef Romain Paumier, the cooking is classical French with seasonal turns. The black sea bass wrapped in crisp potato with red wine sauce is the signature, and the desserts — a tarte Tatin, caramelized mango with lime ice cream — are where the meal peaks. Book it for a quiet, grown-up dinner, or for parents who appreciate a properly laid table.