In a city as populous and diverse as New York, it's only fitting there's a dining scene to match. The Big Apple boasts innumerable top-notch restaurants, including more than 150 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners, more than any other city in the world. With Wine Spectator’s annual New York Wine Experience happening Oct. 20–22, there’s no better time to delve into everything the city has to offer in food and wine. But with this magnitude and breadth of options, visitors and locals are faced with a challenge: Where to begin?
The restaurants listed below each offer 1,000 selections or more, and feature serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages, large-format bottles and superior organization, presentation and wine service. All have earned Grand Awards for their outstanding wine collections that appeal to any enophile.
This is just a small sampling of standout wine spots. For more wine-and-food destinations around the world, search all of Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Award–winning restaurants, including all our Grand Award recipients.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
Note: Opening hours and menus are subject to change as the industry continues to adjust to evolving regulations..
Ai Fiori
Langham Place, 400 Fifth Ave.
Telephone (212) 613-8660
Website www.aifiorinyc.com
Grand Award
Out of restaurateur Ahmass Fakahany’s Altamarea Group—which includes Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner Marea–Manhattan’s Ai Fiori stands out with its extraordinary wine program, which has grown considerably since opening in 2010, and has held a Grand Award since 2018. Wine director John Canvin oversees a program with a 1,200-label list strongest in wines from Italy (particularly Piedmont and Tuscany), Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, Champagne and California. This includes verticals and horizontals from acclaimed estates such as Barolo’s Giacomo Conterno and Napa’s Chateau Montelena. Guests are offered even more choice across the by-the-glass list of 34 wines (with rarer picks offered via a Coravin system), the dessert wine selection and the small-format list. Chef Lauren DeSteno, who draws inspiration from Northern Italian cuisine and French Riviera cooking techniques, creates dishes such as octopus with black garlic pesto, spaghetti with blue crab and bottarga, butter-poached Nova Scotia lobster with squash-corn custard, steamed red snapper with pearl couscous and a dry-aged New York strip with shishito peppers. Tasting menus with optional wine pairings are offered.
Daniel
60 E. 65th St.
Telephone (212) 288-0033
Website www.danielnyc.com
Grand Award
From the moment you enter Daniel Boulud's flagship restaurant in New York, every element at play in this temple of French haute cuisine combines to produce a profound dining experience. It's hard to decide which takes precedence at Daniel—the stellar food, the grand dining room or the smart staff, who deliver the goods with flawless precision. After pivoting to a delivery and pickup program during the COVID-19 pandemic, Boulud temporarily closed the restaurant; Daniel reopened in late 2021 with a reimagined dining room and a new executive chef, Eddy Leroux. Leroux prepares a seven-course tasting menu ($275, with optional wine pairings) that features the likes of Pennsylvania guinea hen terrine, heirloom melon salad with Iberico ham, wild Alaskan king salmon baked in clay and Scharbauer Ranch wagyu beef striploin with summer squash tartlet. Wine director Chris Dooley and the sommelier team oversee a 2,400-label list of wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, Champagne, Germany and beyond. The restaurant’s 14,000-bottle cellar includes gems from Bordeaux’s leading estates, plus a collection of rare spirits, which can also be enjoyed at the restaurant’s new bar, designed with leading glassmaker Lalique.
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
1221 Avenue of the Americas
Telephone (212) 575-5129
Website www.delfriscos.com
Grand Award
With 16 Restaurant Award winners throughout the U.S., Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse—part of Tilman Fertitta's Landry’s restaurant group—embodies luxurious steak house dining. Its crown jewel is, of course, its New York location, which has held a Grand Award since 2017. The dramatic, three-story dining room is directly across from the iconic Radio City Music Hall and serves as the backdrop for chef Zack Brown’s hand-cut, prime-grade steaks and chops. Other steak-house hallmarks include shrimp cocktail, lobster tail, steak tartare and jumbo lump crab cakes. Wine director Curtis Burdine’s 2,100-selection list spans the globe, excelling in regions like California, Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, Italy and Spain. Several verticals cover older vintages of Bordeaux first-growths and a substantial collection of California Cabernets. The by-the-glass list of 29 wines offers a substantial sampling of the restaurant’s world-class, 10,000-bottle cellar.
Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave.
Telephone (212) 889-0905
Website www.elevenmadisonpark.com
Grand Award
In the heart of Manhattan, Eleven Madison Park is an iconic restaurant offering superior wine, food and service in the historic Art Deco Metropolitan Life Building. The fine-dining destination has been a Grand Award winner since 2011, when chef Daniel Humm took ownership. Since 2021, when the restaurant reopened following a pandemic-induced closure, the seasonal tasting menu has been exclusively plant-based, with a shorter version of the menu—or snacks and a drink—available at the restaurant’s bar. Wine director Gabriel Di Bella complements Humm’s inventive cuisine with a 5,000-wine list grounded in classic regions. The restaurant is famous for minting influential sommeliers, and wine service is accordingly impeccable, enhanced by variety-specific Riedel glasses. Spread across more than 200 pages, the list is a wine lover’s dream, with 10 pages of Champagnes; extensive holdings across Burgundy’s appellations; verticals, horizontals and large-format bottles from acclaimed and lesser-known producers, and diverse sweet-wine options to cap off the meal. The whole experience is framed by a stunning interior—a grand, high-ceilinged space with tall windows looking out onto Madison Square Park.
Gabriel Kreuther
41 W. 42nd St.
Telephone (212) 257-5826
Website www.gknyc.com
Grand Award
From the moment he tasted grand cru Burgundy for the first time, France-born chef-restaurateur Gabriel Kreuther has adored wine. This passion is clear at his namesake restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, which earned a Grand Award in 2022 and offers guests 2,215 labels to choose from. Fittingly, wine director Aukai Bell focuses the 9,130-bottle inventory on France, featuring bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley and, of course, Kreuther’s native Alsace, among other regions. This includes leading wineries such as Alsace’s Trimbach, Burgundy’s DRC and the Rhône’s Guigal. Wines from California, Italy and Spain add more choice, and there’s no shortage of bubbly, half-bottle, large-format, dessert or vertical options. Alongside these wines, Kreuther serves his signature take on farm-to-table, traditional Alsatian cuisine, including Greenwalk Hatchery trout with pearl onion fondue, roasted Atlantic skate wing with local polenta, a sturgeon-sauerkraut tart and hay-smoked aged duck breast, along with selections of cheese, truffled pâté and caviar. Prix-fixe and tasting menus are also available.
The Grill
99 E. 52nd St.
Telephone (212) 375-9001
Website www.thegrillnewyork.com
Grand Award
In the former location of U.S. dining legend the Four Seasons, Major Food Group’s the Grill, helmed by chef Mario Carbone, has had some big shoes to fill. Earning its Grand Award in 2019, it’s clear that restaurant has succeeded, combining modern, meat-focused cuisine with a massive 24,000-bottle wine cellar. (For more, read Wine Spectator’s Dec. 15, 2017, issue). Overseen by John Slover and Brad Nugent, the 3,500-selection program spotlights an international range of wines emphasizing leading regions in California, Italy and France. An impressive Champagne section leads into the list’s many celebrated names, from Burgundy’s Leflaive to Bordeaux’s Château Haut-Brion to Napa Valley’s Colgin. The program is also packed with horizontals and verticals, including a massive collection of Yquem Sauternes in several bottle sizes. Chef Alex Clark prepares a menu of steak-house and American-cuisine classics, including steak-anchovy tartare, a wild mushroom omelet, minted black bass, lobster Newberg, a 21-ounce New York strip and a 40-ounce porterhouse.
Jean-Georges
Trump International Hotel & Tower, 1 Central Park W.
Telephone (212) 299-3900
Website www.jean-georges.com
Grand Award
In 1997, Jean-Georges Vongerichten made his debut on the culinary main stage with the opening of Jean-Georges on Columbus Circle in the heart of Manhattan. An instant success, it has matured into a New York classic and serves as the flagship for Vongerichten’s ever-growing restaurant empire. (The chef’s collection includes Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner Jean-Georges in Philadelphia and Best of Award of Excellence–winning the Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges). Featuring American, Asian and French influences, Vongerichten’s creations are offered across three, highly seasonal tasting menus, allowing for consistent creativity and evolution. Dishes are as diverse as ginger-marinated tuna tartare, kale salad with serrano chiles, roasted Maine lobster with corn and beef tenderloin with glazed carrots. Overseen by wine director Rory Pugh, the 1,840-selection wine list—a Grand Award winner since 2016—is well-suited to the menu, centered on Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, and California.
Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St.
Telephone (212) 554-1515
Website www.le-bernardin.com
Grand Award
For years, Le Bernardin has been a leader of luxury French dining in New York, earning a crowd of loyal regulars and visitors from afar. Founded by the Le Coze siblings, this temple to fresh, pristine seafood has continued to build its international reputation under chef and now co-owner Eric Ripert; he and acclaimed wine director Aldo Sohm steered the restaurant to Grand Award status in 2021. Under Sohm, Le Bernardin has built a massive 1,300-label wine program and 10,000-bottle cellar with strengths in Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Germany, Austria, California and beyond. Famous names abound, from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti to Bedrock Wine Co. and Screaming Eagle. These gems are interspersed with wines from farther off the beaten path. Across his prix-fixe and chef’s tasting menus, Ripert spotlights the sea’s bounty. (A vegetarian tasting menu is also available.) Guests will find dishes such as lightly cured Spanish mackerel, flash-marinated fluke ceviche, poached lobster in a miso-sake lobster broth and black truffle tagliatelle; as ever, the tuna with foie gras on baguette remains a staple. As Midtown returns to its usual bustle, Le Bernardin continues to provide a serene, sumptuous retreat with impeccable service, delivering one of the city’s ultimate wine and dining experiences.
The Modern
9 W. 53rd St.
Telephone (212) 333-1220
Website www.themodernnyc.com
Grand Award
New York’s Museum of Modern Art is one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, with galleries of masterpieces by contemporary and historic artists from around the world. It's also home to one of the city’s culinary treasures, aptly called the Modern. This showpiece restaurant of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group has held a Grand Award since 2016 and offers a 3,010-selection list. Beverage director Arthur Hon has added more choices from South Africa and Australia to its established strengths in California, France (Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne, Alsace), Italy’s Piedmont and Germany. A selection of 39 wines by the glass leads into a list of bottles from celebrated wineries, including Diamond Creek, and Dunn, with verticals and horizontals from producers like Burgundy’s Marquis d’Angerville. Chef Thomas Allan offers innovative, contemporary American cuisine on his rotating tasting menu ($250 per person), which satisfies and surprises with dishes like marinated tuna with wild sorrel, roasted scallop potage with shellfish butter, turbot roasted on the bone, pistachio-stuffed chicken and truffle-glazed beef.
Nice Matin
201 W. 79th St.
Telephone (212) 873-6423
Website www.nicematinnyc.com
Grand Award
Nice Matin, an Upper West Side Grand Award winner since 2014, attracts tourists and locals alike with its relaxing environment, flavorful Provençal-Mediterranean food and exceptional wines at reasonable prices. In a family-friendly ambience, wine director Aviram Turgeman delivers a serious list of 2,525 selections, from a deep cellar of nearly 25,000 bottles. Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley and Champagne are core to the program, with more from Italy and California. Turgeman features plenty of heavy hitters, as well as rarities from beyond the leading regions, managing to keep the list value-oriented while offering plenty of mature bottles. Chef Andy D'Amico prepares his takes on classics, such as tuna carpaccio niçoise, mafaldine with squash blossoms and pine nuts, sole Milanese with an arugula salad, steak frites with béarnaise sauce and a truffle cheddar burger. Whether paired with a glass of humble chilled Beaujolais, in classic French bistro style, or mature grand cru Burgundy, Nice Matin promises an unfussy elegance that’s hard to beat.
Per Se
10 Columbus Circle, Fourth Floor
Telephone (212) 823-9335
Website www.www.thomaskeller.com/perseny
Grand Award
After establishing a global reputation at the French Laundry, acclaimed chef Thomas Keller opened Per Se in 2004 on New York’s Columbus Circle, where a sparkling skyline meets cherry blossoms each spring. Holding a Grand Award since 2013, the restaurant continues to impress with its 1,900-label wine list overseen by head sommelier Hak Soo Kim and Thomas Keller Group beverage director Michel Couvreux. The program stretches across California, Italy and France, with plenty from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley and Champagne. There’s even more from Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Australia. Alongside stellar large-format bottles are impressive rarities, such as older vintages of Mouton-Rothschild, Latour and Stony Hill. While enjoying the views, guests are treated to an impressive nine-course tasting menu with French and American influences, prepared daily by chef Chad Palagi. The menu is based around ingredients sourced from foragers and farmers with close, long-lasting relationships with Thomas Keller and his team.
Sistina
24 E. 81st St.
Telephone (212) 861-7660
Website www.sistinany.com
Grand Award
Sistina has been an Upper East Side fine-dining institution for decades, offering an unforgettable Italian food-and-wine experience with old-school New York flair. After moving to a 19th-century townhouse in 2016, the restaurant amped up its already strong wine program, earning a Grand Award from 2018 on. Since the restaurant opened in 1982, the wine list—currently overseen by wine director Renzo Rapacioli and longtime sommelier Nestor Torres—has grown to 3,450 labels, with a focus on Piedmont and Tuscany. The cellar features an astonishing 90,000 bottles, including mature vintages of wines from leading producers, such as Giacomo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, Bartolo Mascarello and Antinori. Chef-owner Giuseppe Bruno uses traditional Italian techniques and seasonal ingredients to create timeless dishes, from comforting classics like eggplant parmigiana to the more luxurious: spaghetti with crab and sea urchin, risotto with anchovies and white sturgeon caviar, veal tortelloni with black truffles and roasted suckling pig with cacciatore sauce.
Tribeca Grill
375 Greenwich St.
Telephone (212) 941-3900
Website www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com/restaurants/tribeca
Grand Award
This downtown stalwart, co-owned by Robert De Niro and restaurateur Drew Nieporent, harbors an exciting, 25,000-bottle wine cellar in its snug, serpentine basement. The restaurant has long taken wine seriously, as wine director David Gordon, who has been with Tribeca Grill since it opened in 1990, won his first Best of Award of Excellence in 1998 and a Grand Award four years later. The restaurant’s 1,800 wine selections are largely split between California Cabernet staples and impressive bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, Italy and Germany. Napa Valley fans will find several horizontals and verticals from leading wineries like Grace Family and Shafer. The list features a page titled "Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year," showcasing the No. 1 wines in our Top 100 lists from various years going back to 1989. Under longtime chef Stephane Motir, the kitchen turns out satisfying mix of seafood, vegetables, meats and pastas: salmon rillettes, pan-seared branzino, grilled Amish chicken with wax beans, grilled heritage pork chop with spaetzle and a 16-ounce, dry-aged ribeye with whipped Yukon gold potatoes, to name just a few.
Edited by Collin Dreizen, Emma Grant and Kenny Martin
