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pion of Food Network’s “Chopped,” serves her captivatingly earthy dishes at lunch, dinner, happy hour and weekend brunch, often with live jazz on tap. Your senses will rejoice. 2 Columbus Cir., 212.299.7730, robertnyc.com A stirring cinematic setting beside the Brooklyn Bridge is one reason why The River Café has remained a romantic dining destination for 39 years. Its breathtaking views (ideal for selfies) command the East River, Manhattan’s and Brooklyn’s skylines, the Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty … for starters. Yet The River Café’s kitchen is equally glorious. Foodies consider this riverside patch of Kings County the birthplace of modern American cuisine and the culinary cradle where influential chefs such as Larry Forgione, David Burke and Charlie Palmer were launched. The River Café works hard to maintain its legend, furnishing sumptuous prix fixe menus for brunch, lunch and dinner; an à la carte breakfast; and inconspicuous waiterly assistance for eager gents on bended knee with ring in hand. 1 Water St., Brooklyn, 718.522.5200, therivercafe.com It’s fitting that the restaurant founded by the NBA’s supernova occupies an equally stellar setting. Michael Jordan’s The Steak House N.Y.C. inhabits a semiprivate alcove within New York’s treasured Grand Central Terminal. Overhead is the celebrated fresco of the constellations, and below is a mesmerizing urban ballet (including a recent wedding proposal that took place on that main concourse, in viewing distance of the restaurant). It’s also fitting that the restaurant over-delivers the way Michael did. It’s one of New York’s great steak houses, serving delectable dryaged beef, luscious local seafood, NBA-tall layer cake and a notable wine list, all which is a slam dunk for diners. Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Ave. at E. 42nd St., 212.655.2300, michaeljordansnyc.com
View of The River Café at night.
Shrines to Dining Some New York restaurants take their mission so reverently, they resemble sacred spaces. These soulful dining rooms make you feel like you’re in a place of worship.—Karen Tina Harrison Junoon means “passionate” or “possessed” in Hindi, and you’ll sense that immediately upon walking into this restaurant, where the entrance is lined with lustrous black South Indian limestone carved into an undulating weave pattern. Next, admire a series of 200-year-old hand-carved wooden arches that set off private dining rooms. Junoon’s centerpiece is a 50-foot reflecting pool with 8-foot-tall blocks of carved pink kota stone from Rajasthan. 27 W. 24th St., 212.490.2100, newyork .junoonrestaurants.com Jue Lan Club is a sultry eatery for those who venerate Chinese food. And it is hallowed ground for devotees of the disco era of the 1970s. The restaurant is set in the shadowy chambers of the Limelight, one of the disco epoch’s reigning nightclubs. The era’s indefatigable clubgoers are memorialized in a wall of edgy snapshots. There is also a wall of Budda heads in the bar. Jue Lan’s spiritual connection runs deep. Its landmarked 1845 Gothic Revival structure was constructed as the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion. 49 W. 20th St., 646.524.7409, juelanclub.com
The Park Avenue location of Wolfgang’s Steakhouse has a cathedral-like ceiling that seems to watch over you (and your ultimate New York strip or porterhouse for two). This celestial spell is set by ravishing blueglazed terra-cotta arches designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino. Wolfgang’s premises were originally the opulent Vanderbilt Hotel, built in 1912. You can see more Guastavino arches in Grand Central Terminal’s lower level, part of the “whispering gallery” near the Oyster Bar & Restaurant. 4 Park Ave., 212.889.3369, wolf gangssteakhouse.net To New York gourmets, Betony is the culinary sanctuary of kitchen magician Bryce Shuman and general manager Eamon Rockey. But Betony looks as sublime as it tastes. Its design commingles modern and antique touches to create an enchanting look. Effusive greenery and a windowed wall overlooking W. 57th St. recall a vintage greenhouse. And Betony’s soaring proportions and ornately carved walls and ceilings channel the Mayan temple of Uxmal in Mexico’s Yucatan. 41 W. 57th St., 212.465.2400, betony-nyc.com
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