It’s only fitting that a city as populous and diverse as New York would have a thrilling, bustling dining scene to match. The Big Apple boasts innumerable top-notch restaurants, including nearly 200 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners—more than any other city in the world. With Wine Spectator’s annual New York Wine Experience happening Oct. 16–18, there’s no better time to delve into everything the city has to offer in the way of food and wine.
But with this magnitude and breadth of options, visitors and locals alike might wonder: Where does one begin? All of the restaurants below offer wine programs that exceed 1,600 selections and represent diverse top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages and coveted large-format bottles, with superior organization, presentation and service to boot. Each one has earned a Grand Award for delivering exceptional wine selections that can appeal to any enophile. (This year the New York City wine community sadly saw the closure of longtime Grand Award winner Tribeca Grill, owned by star restaurateur Drew Nieporent and movie legend Robert De Niro.)
This is just a small sampling of the standout wine spots that have earned Restaurant Awards. For more exceptional food-and-wine destinations around the world, check out Wine Spectator’s more than 3,800 Restaurant Award winners, including the 97 Grand Award recipients that hold our highest honor (64 of which are in the United States).
Do you have a favorite restaurant you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
Ai Fiori
The Langham, 400 5th Ave.
Telephone (212) 613-8660
Website aifiorinyc.com
Grand Award
In addition to Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner Marea, Ahmass Fakahany’s Altamarea Group owns Grand Award winner Ai Fiori inside Manhattan’s luxurious Langham hotel. A few blocks from the Empire State Building, Ai Fiori has a window-lined dining space with sconce-lit columns and tables topped with vases of fresh flowers. Chef Lauren DeSteno draws inspiration from northern Italian cuisine and French Riviera cooking techniques for Ai Fiori’s menus. Notable dishes include lobster bisque with Périgord black truffles, Atlantic fluke crudo topped with American sturgeon caviar and New York strip steak with salsa verde, in addition to a range of house-made pastas. Wine director John Canvin oversees an approximately 1,800-label program that has grown considerably since the restaurant opened in 2010. The wine list is strongest in picks from California; the French regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhône Valley; and the Italian regions of Piedmont and Tuscany. A four-course prix fixe dinner menu is available Monday through Saturday for $135 per person, and on weekdays a three-course business lunch (with an appetizer and entrée) is offered for $48.
Daniel
60 E. 65th St.
Telephone (212) 288-0033
Website danielnyc.com
Grand Award
Chef Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant in New York is a temple of French haute cuisine where every element merges to produce a profound dining experience, from the stellar food and the grand dining room (renovated in 2021) to the talented staffers who deliver with flawless precision. (Learn more about Boulud in Wine Spectator’s Aug. 31, 2024, cover story.) Executive chef Eddy Leroux’s offerings are available across three- and five-course prix fixe menus ($195 and $235 per person, respectively), as well as a seven-course tasting menu ($295), with vegetarian options and optional wine pairings. Recent menu standouts include a Maine sea scallop carpaccio with grapefruit and wasabina, ravioli made with artichokes from Castroville, California (largely hailed as the “artichoke capital of the world”), and yuzu-cured Long Island fluke with an almond-cucumber emulsion. Head sommelier Erin Healy collaborates with Daniel Johnnes, corporate wine director for Boulud’s Dinex Group, in overseeing the 2,000-label list of wines from France (particularly Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhône), Germany and beyond. Notable picks include Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Château Fortia and Piedmont’s La Spinetta, with Sherry from Spain’s Lustau and dessert wine from Hungary’s Royal Tokaji.
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
1221 Avenue of the Americas
Telephone (212) 575-5129
Website delfriscos.com
Grand Award
Part of TV star and hospitality mogul Tilman Fertitta’s Landry’s empire, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in New York City has been a Grand Award winner since 2017. Looking out at Radio City Music Hall, the soaring three-story dining room sets the stage for indulgent steak house fare from chef Jaquon Rawl. Think dry-aged strips and rib eyes and premium cuts of Japanese A5 Kobe beef alongside entrées such as sesame-crusted ahi, jumbo crab cakes and roasted half chicken. Wine director Curtis Burdine maintains a list of more than 1,800 selections, excelling in Bordeaux, Burgundy, California and Italy. Program highlights include vertical offerings of Bordeaux first-growths, such as Château Haut-Brion going back to 1955, and all the E. Guigal “La La” Côte-Rôties. There’s no shortage of big-name Napa producers, such as Abreu, Colgin Cellars and Harlan Estate.
Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave.
Telephone (212) 889-0905
Website elevenmadisonpark.com
Grand Award
Inside the historic Metropolitan Life North Building overlooking Madison Square Park, Eleven Madison Park has earned a Grand Award every year since 2011 under chef Daniel Humm. The bright, art-filled dining room is a New York icon, spotlighted in HBO’s Sex and the City and Netflix’s 7 Days Out. The restaurant launched its fully plant-based tasting menu in 2021, but beginning Oct. 14 meat will be back on the Eleven Madison Park menu. The dinner tasting menu, typically seven to nine courses, will once again offer options of seafood and poultry, including the restaurant’s once-signature honey and lavender–glazed duck. (An abbreviated five-course tasting menu is served during lunch hours.) Wine director Adam Waddell maintains a 4,700-selection list that is especially strong in Burgundies, Californian labels and large-format bottles. Standout names include Biondi-Santi, Domaine Leflaive and López de Heredia, all complemented by refined wine service from a dedicated sommelier team.
Gabriel Kreuther
41 W. 42nd St.
Telephone (212) 257-5826
Website gknyc.com
Grand Award
French chef and restaurateur Gabriel Kreuther says he’s adored wine since the moment he first tasted grand cru Burgundy. This passion is clear at his namesake restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, which earned its first Grand Award in 2022 and offers guests more than 2,100 wine labels to choose from. Following 10 years as executive chef at Grand Award winner the Modern, Kreuther partnered with Eben Dorros in 2015 to open his own restaurant, which quickly joined the ranks of the city’s best dining destinations. Kreuther serves farm-to-table dishes that riff on traditional Alsatian cuisine, such as hay-smoked duck breast (sourced from New York’s Hudson Valley) with eggplant and, one of his signatures, a sturgeon and sauerkraut tart with imperial Kaluga caviar. Wine director Aukai Bell focuses on France for the restaurant’s wine program, which shows strength in Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Kreuther’s native Alsace. Notable producers on the list include Alsace’s Trimbach, Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and the Rhône’s Guigal.
The Grill
99 E. 52nd St.
Telephone (212) 375-9001
Website thegrillnewyork.com
Grand Award
Inside Midtown Manhattan’s towering Seagram Building, in the space where the legendary Four Seasons restaurant once was, the Grill brings new life to an iconic dining room with Major Food Group’s signature blend of glamour and bold cuisine. Co-owned by Mario Carbone, Aby Rosen, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, the restaurant has held a Grand Award since 2019. Chef Alex Clark crafts a menu of American steak house favorites with a modern twist. Notable starters include steak and anchovy tartare and a wild mushroom omelette that’s prepared tableside, while entrées range from honey mustard duckling and whole-grilled squab to a variety of prime aged steaks. Wine directors John Slover and Amy Thurmond oversee the list of 3,500-plus selections, spotlighting Burgundy, Bordeaux, California and Italy. Jean-Louis Chave, Tenuta San Guido and Opus One are among the many iconic producers represented, and the list is also replete with verticals, horizontals and rare treasures—including more than five pages dedicated to Raveneau Chablis.
Jean-Georges
1 Central Park W.
Telephone (212) 299-3900
Website jean-georges.com
Grand Award
In 1997, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten made his debut on the culinary main stage with the opening of his namesake restaurant in Columbus Circle in the heart of Manhattan. Now a New York classic, Jean-Georges has been a Grand Award winner since 2016 and serves as the flagship location of Vongerichten’s ever-growing restaurant empire. Showing American, Asian and French influences, Vongerichten’s creations are offered across four seasonal tasting menus—the six-course omnivore ($298 per person), the 10-course omnivore ($398), the six-course vegetarian ($238) and the 1997 Classics ($478)—allowing for consistent creativity and evolution. (The chef credits the local farmers market as the chief inspiration for his menus.) Overseen by wine director Rory Pugh, the 2,250-selection list focuses primarily on California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma as well as Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône in France. Beyond those regions, notable selections include Billecart-Salmon Champagne, Lucien Crochet Sancerre, Egon Müller Mosel Riesling and Benanti Etna.
Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St.
Telephone (212) 554-1515
Website le-bernardin.com
Grand Award
Since opening in 1986, Le Bernardin has set the standard for refined French dining and flawless service in New York. Founded by the Le Coze siblings and now led by chef and co-owner Eric Ripert, the restaurant achieved Grand Award status in 2021 under Ripert and wine director Aldo Sohm. The serene Midtown dining room highlights Ripert’s seafood-driven menus, with dishes including Montauk shrimp tartare with a lemon-saffron emulsion, grilled cuttlefish with squid ink tagliolini and the signature yellowfin tuna with foie gras on a toasted baguette. Filet mignon and duck dishes are available upon request, and a diverse vegetarian tasting menu is also available. Sohm oversees the 1,635-label wine list, which notably has a dedicated kosher section and a variety of French nonalcoholic sparklers. The Champagne section is well-curated, with big names such as Bollinger and Krug, as well as grower Champagnes from Agrapart & Fils. Armand Rousseau, Cheval Blanc and other iconic labels appear alongside discoveries from lesser-known regions, including the Jura in France and Spain’s Canary Islands.
The Modern
9 W. 53rd St.
Telephone (212) 333-1220
Website themodernnyc.com
Grand Award
Attached to the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan, the Modern features one of the strongest wine programs in restaurateur Danny Meyer’s esteemed Union Square Hospitality Group. The restaurant blends the casual and the refined in both its menus and ambience. In the Bar Room, shareable dishes such as fried chicken and miniature caviar-topped hot dogs are served alongside seasonal plates. In the main dining room, with white-tablecloth settings and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, guests can choose from two dinner tasting menus from chef Thomas Allan: Impressions and Abstractions ($175 and $275 per person, respectively). Recent menu items include roasted Maine lobster with potato dumplings, whole-cooked turbot with glazed corn and the restaurant’s signature Eggs on Eggs on Eggs combo of caviar, egg yolk and brioche. Vincent Morrow, beverage director for Union Square Hospitality Group, guides the 3,045-wine program, which notably highlights Burgundy’s Domaine Leflaive, Napa Valley’s Diamond Creek and Rioja’s R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia.
Nice Matin
201 W. 79th St.
Telephone (212) 873-6423
Website nicematinnyc.com
Grand Award
The Upper West Side’s Nice Matin has earned a Grand Award every year since 2014, serving its Provençal bistro–style menu to tourists and locals alike. The restaurant is one of Chef Driven Hospitality’s 12 Restaurant Award winners in New York City, which include Marseille, Monterey and Nizza. Chef Andy d’Amico helms the kitchen, serving French classics such as escargot, Niçoise salad, steak frites with béarnaise sauce and a Comté and leek omelette. Nice Matin’s list of 2,500-plus wines is managed by Aviram Turgeman, beverage director for the Chef Driven group. The predominantly French program notably carries Château Cos d’Estournel Bordeaux, Château Peyrassol rosé, Domaine de la Vougeraie Burgundy and Louis Michel & Fils Chablis, as well as approximately 25 by-the-glass options that change frequently.
Per Se
10 Columbus Circle
Telephone (212) 823-9335
Website thomaskeller.com/perseny
Grand Award
A Grand Award winner since 2013, Per Se is one of six Restaurant Award winners in acclaimed chef Thomas Keller’s restaurant group. (Fellow Grand Award winner The French Laundry is Per Se’s West Coast counterpart.) On the fourth floor of the Deutsche Bank Center in Columbus Circle, the restaurant serves daily-changing tasting menus backdropped by views of Central Park. Some recent menu items include beef short rib poutine, citrus-cured hiramasa and charcoal-grilled Wagyu beef. Wine director Michel Couvreux’s 2,265-selection list champions California and France, with bottlings from Alsace’s Trimbach, Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Sonoma’s Littorai. The by-the-glass list changes regularly and has showcased premium pours such as Château d’Yquem and D’Oliveira Madeira.
Sistina
24 E. 81st St.
Telephone (212) 861-7660
Website sistinany.com
Grand Award
Sistina brings Old World class to its sunny, art-adorned dining room on the Upper East Side. Inside a historic townhouse situated between Madison and Fifth avenues, the restaurant serves southern Italian cuisine inspired by chef and co-owner Giuseppe Bruno’s upbringing. (Neighboring Best of Award of Excellence winner Caravaggio Ristorante is also co-owned by Bruno.) Recent menu items include grilled octopus in tomato sauce, veal tortelloni with black truffles and braised rabbit in a white wine reduction. Bruno also manages the 5,000-selection wine program, with assistance from sommeliers Tetiana Kanelska and Nestor Torres. The list shows strength in Italy and California, with picks from Napa’s Shafer, Piedmont’s Giacomo Conterno and Sonoma’s Ramey. Also on offer are Burgundies from Joseph Drouhin and Ramonet.
Edited by Julia Larson, Cassia Schifter, Greg Warner and Megan Tkacy
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