"Tucked in the back of a Hell's Kitchen grocery store—the restaurant originally opened in Brooklyn in 2009—Chef's Table still serves some luxurious, beautiful food, but the 14-course menu gets a little boring, because the flavors don’t really explore uncharted territory. And the use of big-ticket ingredients like truffle and wagyu is generous, but sometimes perfunctory, like a brute-force shortcut to deliciousness. For diners whose budget or tolerance for credit-card debt allows them to treat this guide as a to-do list, go ahead and book Chef’s Table—for a milestone wedding anniversary, or to celebrate the kind of promotion that bumps you up into a new tax bracket. But if the price point would make this a once-in-a-lifetime meal for you, have that meal elsewhere." - bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja, molly fitzpatrick