Per Se

Thomas Keller opened Per Se in 2004 as his New York answer to The French Laundry, four floors above Columbus Circle. Adam Tihany's dining room is generously spaced, and the windows look straight across the circle into Central Park, which turns from green to dark blue over the course of a long dinner. It holds three Michelin stars.

Two menus are served each night, both nine courses: a chef's tasting menu and a vegetable tasting menu, built on French technique, with no single ingredient repeated across the meal. "Oysters and Pearls", the opening signature, is the dish most people come for, and the wine list runs past two thousand bottles. Plan on the whole evening.