Restaurants

ATLANTA

Meals include appetizer, entrée and dessert per person. Under $20 ($), $20-$30 ($$), $30-$45 ($$$), more than $45 ($$$$)

BY TONY WARE

FAB
$$-$$$
French-American Brasserie 30 Ivan Allen Jr Blvd Downtown
404-266-1440
The re-embodiment of beloved Brasserie Le Coze, which closed its cosmopolitan cranny in Buckhead’s Lenox Square more than a year ago, is a stately four-floor café that doesn’t lose any of its Coze-y intimacy. The move to a newly reinvigorated Downtown allowed for an ornate, antiqued space, replete with a stained-glass ceiling; 80-seat rooftop terrace; private dining room; 32-seat sidewalk patio; and 50-seat Le Coze Corner, which celebrates the past through furnishings and photographs. What the expansion of this laissez-faire lair did not impact is the discipline. The unadulterated delicacy of seasonal flavors is celebrated in Kaighn Raymond’s classic bistro servings, such as brown butter skate wing, white bean soup with truffle oil and Armagnac duck pate. French American Brasserie is FAB, indeed.
www.fabatlanta.com

Noir
$-$$
American Contemporary 264 Peters St
Castleberry Hill
404-223-2999
In the briskly developing art/loft district of Castleberry Hill, Noir celebrates glamour without needless clamor. Images of old Hollywood float above plush contemporary furnishings upon which sharply dressed patrons sip coffee or cocktails. Sharing plates—including a duck confit and fig empanada with burnt sugar cumin carrot sauce or spaghetti squash green onion fritter with Japanese citron honey aioli—offer equally poised flavors.
www.noiratlanta.com

Eno
$$$
Mediterranean 800 Peachtree St Midtown
404-685-3191
On the city’s busiest thoroughfare, nestled on its most metropolitan mile, this Mediterranean bistro still manages to feel far away from the crowd. The combined 90-seat restaurant and 30-seat winebar with wraparound sidewalk café offers aptitude, ambition, but not attitude. Offering extremely high quality ingredients and flavors in simply prepared dishes, Eno balances the formal and flirty as it continually refines the rustic.
www.enorestaurant.com

Pub 71
$-$$
Pub Grub 4058 Peachtree Rd
Brookhaven • 404-467-8271
A good pub offers the anchor for whatever you may hanker. In this case, it’s the living room of chef Robert S. Adamo. Named after the address of Adamo’s childhood home, this Irish-style neighborhood kitchen features contemporary twists on pub classics, and boasts the timeless charm of a place where the family that works hard and plays hard can also eat well.
www.pub71.com

CHICAGO

Blackbird
$$$-$$$$ New American
619 W Randolph St • West Loop
312-715-0708
With décor of aluminum and alabaster, this hyper-modern, market-driven canvas offers fusion without the usual icy fissure that typically accompanies such a polished atmosphere. While the servers are as perfectly accessorized as the patrons, even they can’t match the food’s ebullient, French-flecked aesthetic, which rises to the challenge of being both smoky and sweet.
www.blackbirdrestaurant.com

WASHINGTON, DC

Blue Duck Tavern
$$$ Farm-Fresh American
1201 24th St, NW • West End
202-419-6755
An open cluster of exhibition workstations flanking a custom Molteni range at one end and a 29-foot handcrafted Windsor bench at the other, this rustic-chic “tavern” balances highconcept and friendly hearth. Presentations are minimalist yet meticulous, allowing the hearty, slow-roasted reverence of chef Brian McBride and his regionally sourced artisan ingredients (purveyors are credited on the menu) to charm with succulence and clarity.
www.blueducktavern.com

LAS VEGAS

BOA Steakhouse
$$$ • Steakhouse
3500 S Las Vegas Blvd • Las Vegas Strip
Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops • 702-733-7373
With bold red lanterns, sultry leather banquettes and a prime patio—plus infinitely quaffable cocktails such as the 405—this toothsome scene is as hot as its 1,800-degree grill. But the drama is not just in the “who’s who” among the auroral driftwood accents; it’s on every savory plate, from the smoky Caesar salad made tableside and piquant tuna carpaccio to world-sourced top-shelf turf crusted in signature rubs and sauces.
www.boasteak.com/balboa

BOSTON

Radius
$$$-$$$$ • Modern French
8 High St • Dewey Square • 617-426-1234
Whimsy and nuance are presented in this chic, sleek bubble. While the room is circular, there’s only one spot on the globe on which the menu focuses: France, but through the luxurious lens of modern emulsions. Eschewing heavy for heady, Radius infuses dishes with subtle scintillation. A haute bar scene featuring house-puréed, bruléed and flirtatiously blended cocktails adds to the stylish experience.
www.radiusrestaurant.com