Illustration: Andy Friedman

A Client Dinner
Cru
The setting may be a little modest for a big-money-client dinner, but the food is always exceptional, and the 65,000 wines seal the deal.

A Marriage Proposal
Masa
With any luck, you’ll do it only once. So if you have $1,000 handy, and a love for sushi, there’s no better venue.

Dinner With Your Visiting Parents
Del Posto
Mom and Dad will like the grand retro room and, if they’re lucky, the sight of Molto Mario wandering around in his orange clogs.

Ten or More People
Buddakan
If ever there was a restaurant built for crowds, this is it.

Dim Sum
Chinatown Brasserie
The current disco home of the great Hong Kong dim-sum maestro Joe Ng.

A Vegan Feast
Pure Food and Wine
For maximum politically correct goodness, order the five-course tasting menu, along with a cauliflower samosa or two.

Related:

• Archive: “Food”
• Table of Contents: January 8, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!