Grey Gardens

Everyone is drawn to restaurateur Jen Agg's hip, boisterous venue, which manages both style and substance with confident charm. An excellent wine list is paired with a small, mercurial menu that punches above its weight class, where ostensibly simple, unassuming dishes turn out to be heavy hitters. Raw items like oysters and crudos are commendably fresh, and the house-made pastas are real showstoppers. Take as an example hearty spaghetti twirled with a mackerel-based twist on XO sauce, lifted with fermented chili puree and crunchy potato crumbs: beguilingly complex, indulgent and umami-packed. The menu might only offer a duo of desserts, but they’re just as inspired as the rest—in other words, not to be missed.