New York is where the algorithm dies. Ours is a city supremely confident in its status as the center of the universe. It is singular, as are its often prickly inhabitants, scrappers and squabblers whose biggest secret may be that we’re actually kind (if not necessarily nice), who’ll give a fumbling stranger a swipe on the subway without breaking stride, and whose wild ambitions and daily struggles make this heaving, bursting-at-the-seams city the most exciting place to live — and eat.
Our favorite new restaurants are wholly true to New York. Let others have their wide-open spaces, their palatial boredom. These spots — all opened in the past year and a half and listed here in alphabetical order — make small, even cramped rooms feel expansive. Their chefs, like the New Yorkers they serve, have roots around the country and the world. They came here to cook for us. How lucky we are. LIGAYA MISHAN