Since opening Estela in 2013, chef Ignacio Mattos has become a fixture of the city’s restaurant scene, with Rockefeller Center’s Lodi, Soho’s Altro Paradiso, and the Lower East Side’s Nine Orchard Hotel (which Mattos is handling the food for). Yet Estela—located in an intimate, dimly lit space on Nolita’s Houston Street, next to the starry red-sauce joint Emilio’s Ballato—is still our favorite of the chef’s restaurants. We suggest going with a group so you can get everything on the menu; the plates are small and expensive, but worth it. No matter what, make sure your order includes the endive salad and the beef tartare. —Julia Vitale

Julia Vitale is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL