John McDonald and Josh Capon, the boys behind Lure and B & B, just opened this stylish new Mexican restaurant. Capon developed the menu with Scott Linquist, a California chef who has worked in some of the country's best modern Mexican restaurants. The early word suggests that El Toro Blanco is both a crowd-pleaser, and a restaurant that Mexican food snobs will dig. It's already packed to the gills.

This Korean restaurant is one of the big dining surprises of the year. Located on the 39th floor of an office building in Koreatown, the bar and the dining room at Gaonurri offer spectacular views of Midtown Manhattan. The service still has some kinks to work you, but if you want to eat solid Korean food with a breathtaking view of the city, it's worth a trip.

L'Apicio is the new East Village restaurant from restaurateur Joe Campanle and chef Gabe Thompson, of L'Artusi, Dell'Anima, and Anfora. They haven't messed with the formula established at their West Village restaurants very much, but so far, people love what Thompson is doing in the kitchen. Order any of the polenta dishes (there are five), and make sure to try one or two of the pastas. And if you just want a cocktail or a glass of wine, L'Apicio has a bar that's big enough to accommodate you and a few of your friends.

First and foremost, go to The Library to enjoy the room, which was built by legendary designer David Rockwell and his crew. Stay for the superb cocktails, and the eclectic menu by Andrew Carmellini. Right now, The Library is a stealth gem, mostly because it's hard to find — walk into the Public Theater, veer left, walk up the flight of stairs, cross the fluorescent-lit hallway, open the door, and then you're there. This place will absolutely blow up in the next few months, but right now it's very manageable.

Top Chef alum Leah Cohen returns to the NYC dining scene with a new restaurant in the old Falai space serving food inspired by her travels in Southeast Asia. The menu includes a lot of shareable small plates like quail adobo, mussels with Chinese sausage, green mango with charred chicken, and grilled pork jowl with watermelon. The space has a dining bar in the front, and a garden in the back.

Heather Tienery, of Pulqueria and Apotheke, recently opened this chic Nolita juice bar and vegetarian cafe on Kenmare Street. Chef Joya Carlton, formerly of Buvette, is in charge of the food menu. Pretty people are going to love The Butcher's Daughter. It will make a million dollars in its first few months, no question.

Earlier this fall, chef Cesare Casella opened a white-tablecloth counterpart to his hit Upper West Side Italian restaurant, Salumeria Rosi. Casella hired Oscar-winning designer Dante Ferretti to create an intimate space that includes more than a few nods to ancient Rome. Like the original Salumeria Rosi, the menu here features a long list of shareable plates, and wines by the bottle or by the glass. But the big addition is the list of secondi, which includes a pressed half chicken, pork chop, mixed seafood plate, and veal ossobuco.

Ichimura at Brushstroke is the restaurant that sushi aficionados are clamoring to get into right now. The seats at this new sushi bar were empty until Pete Wells filed a three-star rave in the Times back in September. Chef Eiji Ichimura has spent over four decades making sushi, and at Brushstroke, he is serving a menu of fresh fish and aged fish dishes, some of which are hard to find in New York City. Over the course of the meal, guests can also order a few of the dishes from the Brushstroke kitchen.

Andy Ricker recently closed his popular LES wing shop, and reopened it as a restaurant completely devoted to pad Thai, which is a dish that he's never served before at any of his restaurants. Pok Pok Phat Thai offers pork, vegan, prawn, and prawn & pork versions of the dish, made with rice noodles, broad noodles, or glass noodles. The wings can still be found at the full-service restaurant in Brooklyn.

John McDonald and Josh Capon, the boys behind Lure and B & B, just opened this stylish new Mexican restaurant. Capon developed the menu with Scott Linquist, a California chef who has worked in some of the country's best modern Mexican restaurants. The early word suggests that El Toro Blanco is both a crowd-pleaser, and a restaurant that Mexican food snobs will dig. It's already packed to the gills.

This Korean restaurant is one of the big dining surprises of the year. Located on the 39th floor of an office building in Koreatown, the bar and the dining room at Gaonurri offer spectacular views of Midtown Manhattan. The service still has some kinks to work you, but if you want to eat solid Korean food with a breathtaking view of the city, it's worth a trip.

The Beatrice Inn is a space with a lot of history. It existed for decades as a fine West Village Italian restaurant, then, for a few years, it was the hottest nightclub on the planet. Now, in its third iteration, The Beatrice is an upscale American restaurant owned and operated by Sir Graydon Carter, with food by Per Se vet Brian Nasworthy. This is a very hard table to score right now. Pro tip: show up early, or very late.

First and foremost, go to The Library to enjoy the room, which was built by legendary designer David Rockwell and his crew. Stay for the superb cocktails, and the eclectic menu by Andrew Carmellini. Right now, The Library is a stealth gem, mostly because it's hard to find — walk into the Public Theater, veer left, walk up the flight of stairs, cross the fluorescent-lit hallway, open the door, and then you're there. This place will absolutely blow up in the next few months, but right now it's very manageable.

Bill's is the clubby new steakhouse from John DeLucie and Crown Hospitality in the space that previously housed Bill's Gay Nineties. The menu here features dry-aged steaks, pastas, seafood, steakhouse sides, and salads. Jason Hall (Crown, Gotham Bar & Grill) is the executive chef. The dining room looks like a cross between Gramercy Tavern and DeLucie's The Lion, but with taxidermy and blue wallpaper. The socialites and celebrities will feel right at home here.

Heather Tienery, of Pulqueria and Apotheke, recently opened this chic Nolita juice bar and vegetarian cafe on Kenmare Street. Chef Joya Carlton, formerly of Buvette, is in charge of the food menu. Pretty people are going to love The Butcher's Daughter. It will make a million dollars in its first few months, no question.

Earlier this fall, chef Cesare Casella opened a white-tablecloth counterpart to his hit Upper West Side Italian restaurant, Salumeria Rosi. Casella hired Oscar-winning designer Dante Ferretti to create an intimate space that includes more than a few nods to ancient Rome. Like the original Salumeria Rosi, the menu here features a long list of shareable plates, and wines by the bottle or by the glass. But the big addition is the list of secondi, which includes a pressed half chicken, pork chop, mixed seafood plate, and veal ossobuco.

Chef Laurent Tourondel teamed up with Tao Group for this new Upper East Side bar and restaurant. This is basically a steakhouse that looks like a club in the vein of Beauty & Essex. It will be interesting to see how the restaurant is received by both the critics and the people who live in the area.

Andy Ricker recently closed his popular LES wing shop, and reopened it as a restaurant completely devoted to pad Thai, which is a dish that he's never served before at any of his restaurants. Pok Pok Phat Thai offers pork, vegan, prawn, and prawn & pork versions of the dish, made with rice noodles, broad noodles, or glass noodles. The wings can still be found at the full-service restaurant in Brooklyn.