Balthazar

Balthazar, Keith McNally's French brasserie at 80 Spring Street in SoHo, has been the essential New York power-dining room since it opened in 1997 and shows no sign of losing its grip on the imagination of the city. McNally modeled the space on the grand brasseries of Paris — mirrored walls, mosaic tile floors, paper-topped tables, antique French posters, and banquettes worn to a perfect burnish — and what emerged was something distinctly New York in its energy while remaining convincingly Parisian in its bones. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch all happen in this single room, all at the same high volume, all with the same mix of downtown artists, publishing executives, tourists who read the right guides, and people who have been coming since the beginning. The menu is a precise translation of the brasserie canon: moules marinières with proper frites, steak frites with shallot butter, a towering raw bar of oysters and shellfish, eggs Benedict on the weekends, croque monsieur that earns the name, and an onion soup gratinée that silences the table. The raw bar — a Plateau de Fruits de Mer with lobster, oysters, clams, shrimp, and crab — is one of the most theatrical presentations in New York dining. The wine list is a serious French-centric document with strong Burgundy and Loire selections. The bakery next door sells bread, croissants, and pastries from the restaurant's in-house boulangerie, and produces the bread served in the dining room. Reservations are advisable for dinner and weekend brunch; the room takes walk-ins at the bar and for lunch on weekdays.