» REEF

Dedicated restaurant hounds should hustle to check out REEF, the new midtown seafood emporium from chef-owner Bryan Caswell and his partner, Bill Floyd. Both came from the former Jean-Georges Vongerichten-operated BANK, at the Hotel ICON, where Caswell was chef de cuisine and Floyd was food & beverage director.

The menu has a streamlined, well-edited feel reminiscent of the one at BANK--and so many things sound so good it's hard to pick and choose.

One must-order, while it's in season: a fat, juicy softshell crab bronzed in Caswell's tempura batter and given a salad garnish of "taqueria-style" pickled vegetables vinaigrette. Those vegetables are a little hot, a little sweet, tinged with coriander seed and wholly brilliant against the crab.

There's a big adjoining lounge where patrons can graze on bar food, too.

*Included on Travel + Leisure's list of the 50 Best New U.S. Restaurants (2009).
*Chef Bryan Caswell named one of Food & Wine's best new chefs of 2009.
*Named the No. 1 seafood restaurant in American by bon appetit (2008).
*Sriracha Remoulade was featured in Garden & Gun's list of 100 Things You Simply Must Eat Before You Die (2008).
*Included in Continental Magazine's list of Five to Try (2007).