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"No, we're not talking the fanciest, trendiest, or even the ones with the most stars. These are the places that define how we eat out. They're the fearless spots that drive chefs to innovate, restaurateurs to imitate, and the rest of us to line up. In short, these are the restaurants that matter\u2014&lt;strong&gt;right now.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p&gt;David Chang wasn&amp;rsquo;t the first to transform brussels sprouts from a side to a star. He wasn&amp;rsquo;t a pioneer when it came to playing any music he wanted, and loudly. Backless chairs and no tablecloths were nothing new. And his world-renowned pork buns? Chang admits he ripped those off. But Michael Jordan wasn&amp;rsquo;t the first guy to dunk, either. What Chang did was put it all together and turn a tiny East Village storefront into the most important restaurant brand of the past decade&amp;mdash;on his own terms. Momofuku is fun, unexpected, and full of attitude (too bad if you want something served &amp;ldquo;on the side&amp;rdquo;). The food avoids easy categories, and it is always evolving. Pork buns and ramen led to bo ss&amp;auml;m, crudo, and Fuji apple kimchi with jowl bacon, each dish addictive and, above all, on the leading edge of where food was&amp;mdash;and is&amp;mdash;going. Chang&amp;rsquo;s empire, which has expanded to include Noodle Bar, Ss&amp;auml;m Bar, Ko, Milk Bar, M&amp;aacute; P&amp;ecirc;che, and Booker and Dax, plus spots in Sydney and Toronto, has changed our dining culture for good (and for the better). I know because I see it&amp;mdash;and taste it&amp;mdash;every time I eat out.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;I wasn&amp;rsquo;t around when Alice Waters started the locavore revolution at Chez Panisse or when Thomas Keller gave American fine dining an identity at The French Laundry. But I did eat Christopher Kostow&amp;rsquo;s food in 2012. Like other modern chefs, he has a love affair with vegetables, many of which come from Meadowood&amp;rsquo;s garden. A plate of salt-baked rutabaga is paired with woodsy matsutake mushrooms, goat&amp;rsquo;s milk, maple, and shaved white truffles. But these aren&amp;rsquo;t proverbial &amp;ldquo;figs on a plate.&amp;rdquo; Kostow&amp;rsquo;s elegant dishes arrive fresh from a precision dance routine with tweezers. And while the kitchen may work Momofuku-loose (is that Rick James on the speakers?), there&amp;rsquo;s nothing dressed down about the experience. From the pressed white tablecloths to the artisanal tableware, everything reminds you that this will be a special meal. To see a chef at the peak of his powers, eat here now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;The secret to delicious food is good dirt and plant varieties.&amp;rdquo; That&amp;rsquo;s chef Sean Brock&amp;rsquo;s mantra, and at Husk, the proof is in the (heirloom corn) pudding. Brock is also an evangelist for the Southern pantry. Everything he serves in this elegant 19th-century mansion comes from below the Mason-Dixon line, including many rare fruits and vegetables he cultivates himself. Here are a few of his staples.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;BENNE: The seed was almost lost in the early 1900s. Ground into a flour, it is the key to Southern dishes like brown oyster stew and sweet benne wafers.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;JAMES ISLAND RED CORN: The first plant Brock grew as a Southern rare-seed saver (and the one tattooed on his arm). Its crimson kernels produce rich-tasting grits.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;HONEY DRIP SORGHUM: Juice pressed from the stalks of this plant is reduced to a molasses-like syrup (great over biscuits) and fermented to make tangy vinegars.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;GREASY BEANS: Packed with umami-rich glutamic acid, these fat, slick Appalachian beans are meaty, delicious, and perfect for canning or cooking with a big piece of pork.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;Grant Achatz confuses me. Or, to be more exact, his food confuses me. After eating, say, his dish &amp;ldquo;LAMB &amp;hellip;&amp;hellip;..?????&amp;hellip;&amp;hellip;&amp;hellip;&amp;hellip;!!!!!!!!!!!!!&amp;rdquo; (lamb served with 86 ingredients), my tongue is puzzled. It&amp;rsquo;s like a Thomas Pynchon novel: Both are brilliant, frustrating, and, in the end, miraculously fulfilling. Each dish on Alinea&amp;rsquo;s wildly creative tasting menu is a barrage of colors and textures. Hot Potato Cold Potato plays with taste expectations but goes down like the best cheddar-potato soup. The whole experience is a head trip, including the austere space, which I can only think was designed to keep your eyes on the plate. Do I want every restaurant to be like Alinea? No. But I do want one to push these boundaries, and I want it to be Alinea.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;David Kinch is the kind of guy who will go on (and on) about the catastrophic effects of refrigeration on freshly dug carrots, radishes, and beets. Which might explain why a few years back he partnered with nearby Love Apple Farms to serve as the kitchen garden for Manresa. Now they grow the majority of the restaurant&amp;rsquo;s produce. Kinch chooses every plant that goes into the ground based on how it will taste and look on the plate&amp;mdash;especially for his Into the Garden dish, an &amp;ldquo;edible reflection&amp;rdquo; of the day&amp;rsquo;s harvest. Kinch also gathers inspiration from the larger world, as in an elegant dish of panna cotta with Monterey abalone and an abalone-dashi gel&amp;eacute;e. Manresa is more than a restaurant; it is an ecosystem that creates a direct link between ingredient, kitchen, and customer. There&amp;rsquo;s a reason Kinch is considered a minor deity by the best chefs in Europe. It&amp;rsquo;s time Americans caught on.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;To say that Carlo Mirarchi, Brandon Hoy, and Chris Parachini had a larger vision when Roberta&amp;rsquo;s opened in 2008 would be wrong. &amp;ldquo;We didn&amp;rsquo;t,&amp;rdquo; Hoy says. &amp;ldquo;Everything happened, for lack of a better word, organically.&amp;rdquo; Today, the ramshackle space serves as a model for Brooklyn&amp;rsquo;s mashup of high and low. Where else can you eat the city&amp;rsquo;s best pizza, hit a Tiki Disco party, or go deep on a $180 tasting menu at sister spot Blanca?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;When the recession hit in 2008, most restaurants swapped out caviar for comfort food. At Eleven Madison Park, chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara reacted in a different way&amp;mdash;by doubling down on their goal of being even&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;more&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;&amp;nbsp;high-end. Four years later, they are comfortably perched at the top. (The pair even bought the place from restaurant don Danny Meyer.) Today, EMP offers customers one choice at dinner: a four-hour, $195 prix fixe. Of course, nowhere else will you see a carrot ground tableside (a nod to steak tartare) or sturgeon encased in a smoke-filled glass dome (paired with caviar and cream cheese, of course). Greatness at this level is about the small things, too, and the restaurant executes those in spades. Flip over any plate at the restaurant and you&amp;rsquo;ll notice it&amp;rsquo;s been set so the maker&amp;rsquo;s name is oriented for you to easily read. Every time. That&amp;rsquo;s not an accident. The only thing that soars higher than EMP&amp;rsquo;s 35-foot ceilings is Humm and Guidara&amp;rsquo;s ambition.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;I have no doubt that if Andy Ricker wanted to cook burgers, pizza, or tacos, they would be some of the best versions I&amp;rsquo;ve ever had. But Ricker cooks&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;laap pet issan&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;muu paa kham waan&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;khao soi&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;, and other northern and northeastern Thai dishes at his casual, bicoastal spots. And people wait in line to get in, ordering rounds of fiery salads and fragrant grilled pork neck as if they were chips and salsa (and washing them down with inventive cocktails). Are the dishes &amp;ldquo;authentic&amp;rdquo;? I have no idea, and I don&amp;rsquo;t care. By going beyond pad thai and green curry, Ricker opened up a world of flavors&amp;mdash;and a world-class cuisine&amp;mdash;to a generation that didn&amp;rsquo;t even know they needed them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;How everywhere is Danny Bowien, the chef and face of Mission Chinese Food? With no PR machine, the Korean-born, Oklahoma-raised 30-year-old landed features in at least 13 major magazines last year, from&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;The New Yorker&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;&amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;Playboy&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;. His scrappy, no-frills spots define dining out right now (on both coasts): no reservations, long waits, big flavors, smaller checks. For the guy who gave the world kung pao pastrami and Chongqing chicken wings, it&amp;rsquo;s well deserved. With a Paris outpost up next, we&amp;rsquo;ll be looking for Bowien in the pages of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;Le Monde&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;&amp;nbsp;in 2013.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;I can hear the sushi snobs already: &amp;ldquo;This know-it- all is saying the best sushi in America comes from a white dude. In a 1920s bungalow! In Texas?&amp;rdquo; But yes, that is what I&amp;rsquo;m saying. Tyson Cole is the Japanese-speaking, James Beard Award&amp;ndash;winning perfectionist behind these Austin institutions. The quality&amp;mdash;and diversity&amp;mdash;of fish he sources is unparalleled, of course. But even more impressive than his UPS bill is the sheer creativity of his composed, nontraditional dishes, particularly at Uchiko&amp;mdash;mackerel with potato-milk jam and green apple; smoked bonito with watermelon radish. This isn&amp;rsquo;t your typical minimalist-chic sushi dining experience; this is Japanese-inspired small plates that only someone not bound by the constraints of tradition could pull off. And that may be Tyson&amp;rsquo;s biggest legacy&amp;mdash;making it possible for anyone to cook any kind of food he or she chooses.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;In the history of American cooking, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo will probably go down as the guys who introduced stoner cuisine to the masses. Their signature dishes, like Buffalo-style pig tails, melted petite Basque cheese with chorizo, and foie gras biscuits and gravy, may share an entry with Doritos Locos Tacos and deep-fried Twinkies. That would be a shame. Animal&amp;rsquo;s food is smart, not smart-ass. Every dish is generous and freewheeling, but also exacting, disciplined, and balanced&amp;mdash;in other words, very unstoner. By serving a menu of upscale munchies in a gritty, minimalist space in the old Jewish neighborhood of Fairfax, the two also changed the dining culture in L.A., making food, not the scene, the centerpiece. Not bad for a pair of self-made chefs, who deserve to be remembered for creating dishes rooted in satisfaction and comfort&amp;mdash;no matter why you crave them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;When Donnie Madia and Paul Kahan opened Avec in 2003, it was as much about the room as it was the food. The space was small and spare, the chairs backless, the tables communal&amp;mdash;much as in every restaurant I ate at in 2012 (and, not coincidentally, like the number one spot on this list). Avec&amp;rsquo;s true innovation&amp;mdash;the eating bar, chef&amp;rsquo;s counter, or whatever you call the place where diners get a front-row seat&amp;mdash;reinforced the shift away from the rigidity of fine dining. Suddenly, the wall between cooks, servers, and customers was gone, and the bustle of the room became an integral part of the experience. Eating out was a party&amp;mdash;complete with killer small plates like bacon-wrapped dates, cheese focaccia, and whipped brandade&amp;mdash;and you didn&amp;rsquo;t need an invitation to be there, just the desire to have fun.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Since 1994, Eric Ripert has captained the greatest seafood restaurant in the world. No matter what &amp;ldquo;lightly cooked&amp;rdquo; fish and sauce combo he conjures, it tastes revelatory. He&amp;rsquo;s a chef&amp;rsquo;s chef whose dedication is unmatched. Trends may come and go, but Le Bernardin&amp;mdash;and Ripert&amp;mdash;endure. To find out why, we asked some of his peers.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;If I were a fish, I would want to end up in Ripert&amp;rsquo;s hands, where I know I&amp;rsquo;ll only be softly swathed with herbs, bathed in a fragrant broth, and barely cooked!&amp;rdquo;&amp;mdash;&lt;strong&gt;Daniel Boulud&lt;/strong&gt;, Daniel, NYC&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;He radiates integrity and tranquillity, which inspires chefs to be more like him, both in the kitchen and out.&amp;rdquo; &amp;mdash;&lt;strong&gt;April Bloomfield&lt;/strong&gt;, The Spotted Pig, NYC&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;He&amp;rsquo;s the best of what a modern French chef should be. He makes me proud to be a chef.&amp;rdquo;&amp;mdash;&lt;strong&gt;Jacques P&amp;eacute;pin&lt;/strong&gt;, The International Culinary Center, NYC&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;He is very open to change, but his curiosity, commitment to quality, and French hospitality will always be there.&amp;rdquo; &amp;mdash;&lt;strong&gt;Marcus Samuelsson&lt;/strong&gt;, Red Rooster, NYC&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;He&amp;rsquo;s not a snob. He&amp;rsquo;ll take inspiration from flavors and eating experiences high and low&amp;mdash;as long as they are delicious. I wish I had filmed him trying Cap&amp;rsquo;n Crunch.&amp;rdquo; &amp;mdash;&lt;strong&gt;Anthony Bourdain&lt;/strong&gt;, CNN, &amp;lsquo;Parts Unknown&amp;rsquo;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;I was always in love with the idea of eating out in New Orleans, but I was never in love with actually eating out in New Orleans. The food was filling, but often uninspired. Cochon changed all that. Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski raised the bar on the rich culinary traditions of the Louisiana bayou and gave the NOLA dining scene what it was missing&amp;mdash;a passionate, pork-filled point of view. Sure, there are roasted oysters and gumbo, but there&amp;rsquo;s also fried boudin, stuffed pig&amp;rsquo;s foot, and unforgettable rabbit and dumplings. And while too many of the city&amp;rsquo;s dining rooms feel dusty, Cochon&amp;rsquo;s postindustrial Warehouse District space is like its food: reverent of the past but definitely in the present. Even better, seven years on, Cochon&amp;rsquo;s approach still drives countless U.S. chefs to get down with all the nasty bits and play with their own traditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;We all dream of that ideal neighborhood spot where you can drop by anytime for a drink and a few oysters. A place where, after a few visits, the staff knows your name and you have a go-to order and a preferred table. That&amp;rsquo;s what The Walrus and the Carpenter was for me after two meals&amp;mdash;and I live 2,861 miles away. Every detail, from the way your waiter describes the local oyster selections and the wire baskets they&amp;rsquo;re displayed in, to the yellow and white stools that line the bar (my preferred place to eat), is dead on. The space, feel, and comforting dishes&amp;mdash;smoked herring tart and sea urchin custard&amp;mdash;are, in a word, nurturing. Credit chef Ren&amp;eacute;e Erickson, who has made dining here feel less like a night out and more like eating at a friend&amp;rsquo;s place. In the end, those are the impressions that last&amp;mdash;and the ones that are the hardest to find.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;Danny Meyer didn&amp;rsquo;t just redefine the fast-food experience&amp;mdash;the meal, the look, the level of service&amp;mdash;he created a damn good burger. With its custom-blend patty (and nostalgic nods like gooey American cheese and a soft bun), it is a burger worth standing in line for&amp;mdash;and you will likely have to, for up to an hour. Like all fast-food chains, consistency is king, but here that means beef supplied by meat guru Pat La Frieda; cool, urban-chic spaces by architecture firm SITE; and a definitive menu, though they do tailor the &amp;ldquo;concretes&amp;rdquo; (frozen custard with mix-ins) to each location. (We&amp;rsquo;ll have the &amp;ldquo;Fudge-eddaboudit.&amp;rdquo;) In under a decade, they&amp;rsquo;ve grown to 22 locations, from NYC to Dubai. Look for five more in 2013, including Istanbul.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The world of barbecue is ruled by tradition. The older the pits (and the pitmaster) smoking your brisket, the better. So how is it that 35-year-old Aaron Franklin, who opened Franklin Barbecue in a trailer in 2009, attracts longer lines and more accolades for his meat (which sells out by noon every day) than anyone else in the country? We asked the man himself.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How&amp;rsquo;d you get into barbecue?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;My parents used to run a place when I was a kid. Nine years ago I asked them how to cook brisket and they said, &amp;ldquo;Just throw it on and pull it off when it&amp;rsquo;s done.&amp;rdquo; I ended up getting a little weird with it and eventually going super nerdy on barbecue.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why has Franklin Barbecue been so successful?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s not just the food, it&amp;rsquo;s the vibe. You stand in line and you share beers with the people around you. It&amp;rsquo;s like coming to Grandma&amp;rsquo;s house.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How are people okay with you running out of meat?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;Maybe because I tell them how we can only make so much of it and that I&amp;rsquo;m real sorry. But now running out of food is, like, a cool thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is that a positive trend in barbecue?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;Yes, if the place is choosing to run out because they don&amp;rsquo;t want to reheat meat the next day. But there are a ton of places that put out a sign that says &amp;ldquo;11 a.m. Till Sold Out&amp;rdquo; and say, &amp;ldquo;Watch, this&amp;rsquo;ll be a great marketing thing for us!&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long would you wait for barbecue?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;I can&amp;rsquo;t eat barbecue anymore. I&amp;rsquo;d stand in line for a good salad, though.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;I got married at City Hall&amp;mdash;at 8:30 a.m. A celebratory lunch wasn&amp;rsquo;t an option, so we headed to Keith McNally&amp;rsquo;s perpetually packed bistro for breakfast. We gorged on oysters and Champagne, basking in the flawless lighting and buzzy scene other restaurants strive to duplicate. Balthazar is that place every chef wishes he&amp;rsquo;d opened; it&amp;rsquo;s not only beautiful, it&amp;rsquo;s insanely profitable. A look at the numbers from Saturday, December 22, 2012, explains why:&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;No. of Customers: 1,515 (Brunch: 939; Dinner: 576). With 180 seats, this means that each one turned over roughly eight times during the 17-hour business day.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;No. of Glasses of Wine: 1,051&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;No. of Oysters: 1,094&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;No. of Steak Frites: 224&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;Just about every big-city chef I&amp;rsquo;ve met dreams of finding a quiet spot with a little plot of land in the country and opening a small restaurant with a garden. But Melissa Kelly actually did it. Thirteen years ago, she and her husband, Price Kushner, bought an old Victorian on a hill in mid-coast Maine. What started as a humble country restaurant has grown to be one of the country&amp;rsquo;s most sincere and exciting expressions of farm to table. The wide-ranging charcuterie program rivals any in the U.S., and Kelly&amp;rsquo;s wood-burning oven does amazing things to local Pemaquid oysters and house-made breads alike. There are greenhouses filled with tomatoes and fields of Padr&amp;oacute;n peppers, lolla rossa lettuce, and other of-the-moment ingredients. Honeybees buzz, and pigs, chickens, ducks, and guinea hens play in the dirt. It&amp;rsquo;s a reminder that the best things often start from the ground up, far off the beaten path.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;I&lt;span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: 'Graphik Web Light', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.1200008392334px;\"&gt;f the food world, myself included, is guilty of anything, it&amp;rsquo;s overhyping the latest and greatest at the expense of the timeless classics. Which brings me to Swan Oyster Depot, a fish store with an 18-seat counter that just might be my favorite restaurant on the planet. From the minute it opens (10:15 a.m.) to the minute it closes (5:30 p.m.), there&amp;rsquo;s a line. I don&amp;rsquo;t wait in lines, but I make an exception for Swan&amp;rsquo;s cracked Dungeness crab, clam chowder, smoked salmon on rye, and ice-cold Anchor Steam. Food is only part of the allure. There&amp;rsquo;s the look of the place (sports memorabilia, seafood posters, a hand-painted menu tacked to the wall) and the devastating charm of the Sancimino brothers, whose family has run the place since 1946. (It opened in 1912.) Swan isn&amp;rsquo;t a boardroom concept; it&amp;rsquo;s proof that honesty, passion, and hospitality will bring you longevity and fans. It&amp;rsquo;s the kind of restaurant that makes you ask, &amp;ldquo;Why aren&amp;rsquo;t there more places like this?&amp;rdquo;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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