Amaranth

At her pleasant bistro, Paola Pedrignani meets and greets the tony regulars—Chanel-suited Upper East Side matrons in outsize sunglasses, European youths, and pretty young things with older dates. They breeze in to dine on artichoke-and-avocado salad, salmon tartare, seared tuna with warm lentils, liver with mashed potatoes and haricots verts, and various pasta dishes. The sirloin steak with pepper sauce is steakhouse-good. Desserts run from sweetly innocent (a trio of sorbets) to utterly depraved (dense chocolate cake with whipped cream).