A Big Apple bite for every occasion

A quickie trip to New York invariably raises lots of questions. Bus, train or plane? Museum, concert or play? Motel 6 -- or the Four Seasons? Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema shares his answers to the three most common questions about eating in the Big Apple.

Q. I just got a raise/got engaged/turned 50. Where should we celebrate?

A. Here's what separates a good restaurant from a great one: When you surrender your wrap to the coat checker, he or she doesn't give you a claim ticket. They just remember who gave them which coat. Another distinguishing moment in an evening full of them at Eleven Madison Park involves the amuse-bouche, which isn't just one treat but a flurry of five on a single white plate. Enough for everyone to try everything.

Owner Danny Meyer, who helped revolutionize American service in Manhattan with such crowd-pleasers as Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern, thinks of everything. And beginning with the arrival of Daniel Humm in the kitchen in 2006, Eleven Madison Park in the Flatiron has evolved from a swell place to know about to one of the starriest places to eat in the city.

Humm, 33, employs the trends du jour, the froths and such of his peers, but they never detract from the pure flavor of the ingredients.

The cooking isn't all that holds your attention here. The service, as at all of Meyer's establishments, is smooth and gracious; the good bones and high ceiling of the former Metropolitan Life Building lend grandeur to the marble-rich Art Deco room. (Fear not. The buzz from the front bar keeps a meal here from being too serious an occasion.)

My critic's radar goes off when a bottle of cognac shows up and pours are doled out. "Be sure to put it on my tab," I remind the general manager. Without prompting, the bill comes with an envelope containing the labels from the wines we've enjoyed.

11 Madison Ave.; 1-212-889-0905. elevenmadisonpark.com. Q. What's good and hot and won't break the bank?

A. Book a table at Locanda Verde in Tribeca. It's a big, and big-hearted, warehouse space that stars Andrew Carmellini in the kitchen. In years past, he was the reason you put A Voce and Cafe Boulud on your New York dining itinerary. These days, he's serving rustic riffs on Italian food that demonstrate his finesse but don't cost a fortune.

There are antipasti to start, a handful of pastas and entrees to follow, and if you skip dessert, it's your loss. Karen DeMasco, late of Craft, knows her way around sugar, flour and butter. (Her banana-walnut cake with bitter chocolate sauce is divine.)

While you're admiring the way the designers used the walls to store -- and show off -- the restaurant's wine selection, ease in with steak tartare. Carmellini gives it a Piedmontese spin by slipping crushed walnuts and chopped winter truffles into the creamy raw meat, best slathered on the grilled bread that accompanies it. My Grandmother's Ravioli is a valentine to its creator, a fresh wash of tomato sauce and a dusting of Parmesan on delicate squares of meat-filled pasta. "Lucky grandson," I think to myself.

377 Greenwich St.; 1-212-925-3797. locandaverdenyc.com. Entrees $17-$28. Q. Where can I catch a good meal before a show?

Narrow and white, the restaurant would be chilly without its vivid accents: birds of paradise at the bar, a rose on each table and espresso-colored leather banquettes.

Frauneder and Wolfgang Ban, both of whom are also employed by the German mission in New York, prove that potato soup and venison tartare don't have to put you to sleep by the second act. They cook with a light and sure touch.

That raw venison is three or so bites of ruddy pleasure fired up with harissa in the seasoning. In lieu of the traditional raw egg garnish, there are tiny yellow beads formed by poaching, then frying, the yolk.

Oddly, the wiener schnitzel is a lesser dish, properly golden and crisp but otherwise suffering from the blahs. Its vinegary potato salad, dilled cucumber salad and tiny pot of lingonberries help you forget that, though. These and other dishes are all offered on Seasonal's terrific lunch deal: three courses for $27.