Westhouse Your House

It’s Restaurant Week in New York again. A true misnomer, the biannual celebration runs roughly a month long (until August 14), and invites diners to discounted, prix-fixe dinners and lunches at Manhattan’s best restaurants. It’s the perfect excuse to visit Michelin-starred restaurants at welcomingly low prices (lunches are $25; dinners $38).

Here are the New York City Michelin-starred restaurants participating in this summer’s Restaurant Week, and our recommended course selections.

Take the wide spiral staircase up to Ai Fiori (pictured above), and you’ll find yourself in an elegant but understated room of polished woods and tufted banquettes: It’s the food that chef (and pasta god) Michael White wants you to focus on.

Courses to order: Housemade pâté; pappardelle with mushroom, tomato and ricotta (you can’t go to a Michael White restaurant without ordering his pasta); dark chocolate torta.

The 2015 Michelin Guide hails Andanada as an “unselfconscious Spanish powerhouse,” and we wholeheartedly agree. Bullfighting scenes line the brick dining room, and a welcomingly friendly waitstaff reminds us all that fine-dining shouldn’t have to come with an attitude.

Courses to order: Andalusian tomato emulsion with jamón; Mallorca flatbread with peppers; melon gelée soup with lemon sorbet.

Naysayers be damned, Times Square actually has a restaurant worth braving the crowds. Charlie Palmer’s Aureole, including its semi-casual Liberty Room, serves up contemporary American food in a brightly lit (though thankfully not neon) atmosphere with wine displayed on a hanging catwalk.

Courses to order: Heirloom tomato gazpacho; trout with wild rice and daikon; peanut butter crunch with chocolate mousse and bacon caramel ice cream.

Daniel Boulud’s restaurant empire takes an intimate turn at this Upper East Side retreat where the kitchen churns out one French classic after the other. Executive pastry chef Ashley Brauze’s delicate baked goods are not to be missed—she’s previously worked at El Bulli under Albert Adrià, and Per Se under Thomas Keller.

Courses to order: Beet-cured salmon with creme fraîche; skate grenobloise with haricots verts and fingerling potatoes; cardamom semifreddo with a flourless biscuit, caramel crémeux and chocolate ganache.

This amber-hued hall with massive floral arrangements has become a New York institution. Serving American haute cuisine in Greenwich Village since 1984, chef Alfred Portale has built his reputation around reliably excellent service and creative takes on familiar dishes.

Courses to order: Wild bass crudo with a watermelon emulsion; poussin with romano beans and a white wine reduction; Gotham chocolate cake (a must).

The New York City outpost of London’s famed Chinese restaurant Hakkasan is loud, proud, and, outside of Restaurant Week, prohibitively expensive. Heavy use of Carrara marble and dark latticework are reminiscent of ancient Chinese houses.

Courses to order: Steamed dim sum (more delicate than the fried option, and no less delicious); spicy prawns with almond and lily bulb; apricot cream with summer berries.

Pass through the massive limestone entrance and enter the refined dining room of Junoon, with intricately carved sandstone columns. Junoon serves regional Indian cuisine rarely seen on U.S. menus and a rigorous commitment to use the freshest ingredients possible.

Courses to order: Montauk oyster pakora with Meyer lemon; baby eggplant baigan; yogurt mousse and chamomile cake.

At this intimate, 55-seat Indian restaurant in Midtown East, Goa-born chef Eric McCarthy serves some of the best tandoor in the city. Ask to sit in one of the canopied booths for the full experience.

Courses to order: Tandoor-baked potato stuffed with cheese and vegetables; Goan fish curry with freshly ground coconut, tamarind and mango; lemon ginger mousse.

Stop by the WestHouse concierge and our team can book reservations for these and any other New York restaurants during your stay.