Grub StreetNew York

• New York
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco
• Chicago
• Philadelphia
• Boston

We might as well address this: There's a restaurant in New York experiencing an unheard-of level of buzz and media attention at the moment. Perhaps you saw the coverage? But we really, really can't advocate a trip to Guy Fieri's restaurant, not even ironically. Even Crazy Legs Conti couldn't work up much of an appetite there, and that's a guy who makes a living by shoveling food into his face. Luckily, there actually are a lot of restaurants that are worthy of your attention this week. Which ones are they? Read on to find out. (And please note, we're temporarily nixing the info of where a restaurant ranked in the previous Power Rankings since the last time we did this was pre-Sandy, and the restaurant landscape is quite different as lots of places try to get back up and running — as we said last week, go out and tip big to help.)

1. Roberta's
The Bushwick restaurant is already one of the most popular places in town; this weekend's Rockaways benefit is the kind of event that makes it easy to root for them.

2. El Toro Blanco
Sandy forced the new Village Mexican spot to close just as it was hitting its stride, but reports back indicate they're regaining their mojo. Proof: They just added brunch.

3. L'Apicio
The newest restaurant from the dell'anima crew similarly lost steam because of the storm, but — yes — appears to be getting its groove back, too.

4. Maison Premiere
As Ryan Sutton points out this week, the Williamsburg oyster-and-cocktail spot stayed open through the storm, and in the process brought some attention to itself at a time when it appears to be firing on all cylinders.

5. Krescendo
Elizabeth Falkner's Brooklyn pizza place quietly opened for business, and the low profile the place has been keeping is refreshing considering the TV talent in the kitchen.

6. Mission Chinese Food
The hype keeps moving at a steady clip here, even as Danny Bowien appears to be devoting his attention these days to the original location in San Francisco.

7. Mile End Deli
Rae and Noah Bernamoff lost their Red Hook production kitchen, forcing them to revamp their hours and menus. It's worth heading over to Brooklyn to see what they can do beyond smoked meat while lending your support.

8. Momofuku Ssâm Bar/Booker and Dax
This Saturday, Momofuku will host a lunch to benefit Governor, one of the restaurants hit hardest by Sandy. It's $325 per person and there aren't many seats left, but altruism is always a power move.

9. Eleven Madison Park
Oh, and speaking of Governor benefits, EMP will host one, too. It's on November 20, and here are all the details.

10. Battersby
The Brooklyn spot, a Rankings favorite, continues to hum along on Smith Street.

11. Northern Spy Food Co.
Northern Spy was one of the restaurants that helped downtown residents deal during the power outage by giving away food — there are far worse ways to repay a favor than going and paying for an amazing dinner.

12. Gaonnuri
Per Adam Platt, in this week's New York, the views alone are enough to warrant a visit.

13. Rustic L.E.S.
The tiny, hidden LES spot from the merguez-loving Bistro Truck team gets some love in this week's "Hungry City" column — the food is endearing, even if the technical execution is imprecise at times.

14. Torrisi Italian Specialties
If you still haven't tried the New York-themed tasting menu, you'd better get here quick; the concept will change on December 1.

15. The Dalloway
The latest spot to take over the Tailor/Lani Kai space in Soho opened this week — it's got a handsome makeover and a menu that's big on people-pleasing items that should pair well with the cocktails.

16. Corton
One strange side effect of Sandy is that it made people re-appreciate restaurants that they'd previously been taking for granted — and Paul Liebrandt's excellent Tribeca restaurant is just such a place.

17. Motorino
The pizza is as good as ever, but the other reason to support Mathieu Palombino's East Village restaurant is the impressive amount of relief work his team has done since the storm.

18. The Pines
The kitchen at the Gowanus spot has kicked into gear, and the casual atmosphere makes this place very easy to like.

19. Pig & Khao
The Fatty Crew's southeast Asian spot continues to win people over on Clinton Street.

20. The Beatrice Inn
Yes, Graydon & Co.'s Beatrice redo is open, but a quick call to a hostess was met with an unprompted notice that the restaurant is fully booked for dinner tonight (to be fair, she was nice about it) — if you're up for a drink at the bar (where the full menu is served) with the hoi polloi, or you have the necessary cred to secure an actual table for yourself, go ahead and stop on by.

• Share this story...
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Digg
• ShareThis Counter
• Email
• Print

• Newest
• Oldest
• Picks
• Most Replies
• Threaded