Like a TV studio during the taping of a cooking segment, seats at the white marble counter of The Ocean Grill and Oyster Bar (right)—the largest of eight open kitchens that comprise The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English—offer an up close view of chefs shucking oysters, cracking crab claws, filleting red snapper and tending to whole branzino sizzling on the grill.

» The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English, The Shops at The Plaza, 1 W. 59th St., 1-212-986-9260

Beneath a canopy of stately oak and elm trees in Fort Tryon Park, the slate patio of New Leaf Restaurant & Bar offers diners the singular pleasure of savoring Executive Chef Scott Campbell’s farm-fresh New American cuisine (left, Mediterranean salad with grilled chicken) to the sound of birdsong at lunch, crickets at night.

» New Leaf Restaurant & Bar, 1 Margaret Corbin Dr.,
1-212-568-5323

There’s sweet, sour, salty and bitter, plus an elusive fifth sense of taste called umami, a savoriness considered the Holy Grail—and star of an eight-course tasting menu—at both the TriBeCa and Midtown locations of Megu. In stylish, serene palaces, chefs prepare modern Japanese morsels using only the world’s finest and rarest ingredients. As each beautiful dish arrives, servers explain its venerable origins. Kobe beef is grilled over bincho-tan, a charcoal found only near Kyoto, and a green tea crepe mille-feuille (right) has precious Matcha Rikyu Sauce.

» Megu New York, 62 Thomas St., and Megu Midtown, 845 UN Plaza, 1-212-964-7777

In the kitchen at Perbacco, a lively little East Village nook, Executive Chef Simone Bonelli marries avant-garde and classic Italian cooking. Deconstructed dishes include antipasto Emiliano (left)—pillowy pastry puffs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma and cippolini onion jelly.

» Perbacco, 234 E. 4th St., 1-212-253-2038