Best new restaurant: The NoMad

RECOMMENDED: Food & Drink Awards 2013

Other Nominees: Blanca, Mission Chinese Food, Pok Pok Ny

There may be no better illustration of the New York food scene’s polarity than this year’s Best New Restaurant nominees. In one corner we have earnest, personal spots like the hipster-colonized Mission Chinese Food and DIY Thai shanty Pok Pok Ny; in the other there’s the opulent Blanca and NoMad, serving some of the city’s most elegant cuisine. That you cast your votes for the latter says something about where Gotham’s food culture is headed. This year, Daniel Humm and Will Guidara’s culinary juggernaut astonished with its all-in pursuit of luxury: radishes dipped like bonbons in cool shells of butter, a now-iconic roasted chicken with foie gras and truffles tucked beneath its parchmentlike skin, and cocktails as brainy and luxe as everything else. If this is the future of New York dining, we’ll happily go along for the ride. The NoMad, 1170 Broadway at 28th St (347-472-5600, thenomadhotel.com)

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