Restaurant File: Fall Dining in New York

Most restaurants change their menu when a new season arrives. Not so for this Upper East Side destination. Like an actor playing many characters in a play, Park Avenue astonishes with quick and thorough character transformations every season. The decor, the plates and even the business cards change along with the menu to reflect the season. Chantal, our New York-based editor, dined here when it was Park Avenue Winter. "I expected the whole seasonal decor concept to be a bit gimmicky," she said. "But was pleasantly surprised to find the white and silver interiors to be a tasteful and attractive winter wonderland of sorts—and the food and service was quite good. It was a Monday night, and the place was packed. I am looking forward to returning and checking out what they've got going on for autumn—my favorite season in New York."

The dark but glistening dining room at Gilt in the Palace Hotel dates back to the late nineteenth century and captures the subdued elegance of old Manhattan. The wood paneling, intricate carvings and soaring ceilings make you wonder if a butler will arrive to carve a roast before your eyes, but instead of rich decadence on the plate, Chef Christopher Lee concocts back-to-the-basics fare with finesse and avant-garde flourishes. The entrees are listed on the menu in two categories: "Ocean" and "Land." This season you'll find him capturing fall with dishes like New Zealand lamb gussied up with fava beans, hedgehog mushrooms, creamed onions, pistachios and lavender honey lamb jus and vadouvan spice crusted veal tenderloin dressed with red lentils, cauliflower florets, date puree, broccoli and sumac yogurt sauce. Ask for the table by the grand fireplace and make it your autumn destination.

Gramercy Tavern is to Manhattan dining what the Rolling Stones are to rock and roll—a true and eternal standard bearer. One of the jewels in the nearly royal restaurateur Danny Meyer's crown, Gramercy Tavern seduces first time guests every time and reinforces its haute countryside tavern spell with every visit from a regular. It starts with the irresistible smell of the wood-burning ovens that hit you the moment you walk through the doors. The flames in the fireplace enhance the cozy quotient. The decor—hanging copper pans and an artful jumble of pine cones, leafy branches, brambles and other touches that appear to have been looted from an upstate forest—provides a welcome reprieve from the rush and bustle just outside the door. Jody Adams, James Beard award-winning chef at Rialto in Cambridge, just outside Boston, put it best when she told us: "Danny Meyer and his team just have the magic touch."

Sfoglia's strength is unadorned, no-frills Italian fare, and I'd recommend this intimate spot to anyone looking for a break from the avant-garde, haute cuisine that New York chefs do so well. Sometimes you just need spaghetti swimming in a feisty red sauce or hand-rolled pappardelle and bolognese in a down-to-earth, decidedly unfashionable farmhouse-inspired setting. If you know the original Sfoglia on Nantucket, expect more of the wonderfully hearty food and friendly service that's made that trattoria a scene-stealer since it opened in 2000.

Set in a freestanding three-story townhouse in the middle of the West Village, Bobo has a garden entrance and a casual dining room referred to as the "den," so it's no surprise that refined comfort food is the lingua franca here. I love the layout: a subterranean bar and a second-floor dining room adorned with fireplaces, a copper chef's table, and antiques sourced from purveyors in the Hudson Valley. It's designed to look like your eccentric uncle's apartment in the city, down to the menus written on vinyl records. That's how it was described to us by Patrick Connolly, who clinched the 2008 James Beard award for Best Chef: Northeast for his work in the kitchen at Boston's Radius. Now he's executive chef at at Bobo and his flare for sophisticated French cuisine and his down-home midwestern roots are apparent on the menu. Expect seasonal market-driven fare.