The marbly travertine walls facing the street look bizarrely out of place on Kenmare—somehow the former Little Charlie’s Clam Bar seemed to blend right in—but walk into Travertine and you’re instantly in a softly lit, glam little nook. Banquettes are filled with everyone from Nolita types to blingy guys with their coiffed dates. But it’s easy to be automatically lulled into a sense of beauty and pleasure and ease—hell, you’re paying for it, and it doesn’t come easy these days—and to be transported by ex-Babbo and Top Chef fixture Manuel Trevino’s handmade pastas and elegant Italian-Med dishes: from mezzaluna filled with butternut squash and parmigiano reggiano and showered with crushed amaretti cookies, to buttery sauteed skate with parsnip puree, even to gorgeous appetizers like burrata with oranges and toasted hazelnuts, or a must-have salad of escarole hearts, black currants, cheddar, and marcona almond vinaigrette.
Travertine. 19 Kenmare St. at Elizabeth St.; (212) 966-1810.
Prices/Features: UPSC, VEG (See Welcome to Salmaland for key to letter abbreviations.)