Best New Restaurant

Elisabeth Daniel belongs to the grand tradition of opulent dining exemplified by Ernie's, Fleur de Lys, and, more recently, Gary Danko and the Fifth Floor. Its seasonal cuisine, rich with caviar, foie gras, truffles, and other delicacies, is served with languid precision in six intricate, imaginative courses. Each dish is presented with an aesthetic worthy of its aspirations: poached oysters with osetra; sweetbread-pâté ravioli with shavings of black truffle; fabulously tender, hand-rolled couscous with green olive oil; roasted quail with baby turnips; a fine selection of cheeses; cardamom custard with orange essence and Armagnac. A five-course wine-pairing program is available if you'd like to taste appropriate selections from the restaurant's impressive cellar. Co-owners Daniel Patterson and Elisabeth Ramsey opened their restaurant last summer after honing their skills at the wonderful Babette's in Sonoma, and their new venue, nestled among the brick-lined, pre-quake antiquities of the Jackson Square area, is true destination dining.