PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

I'll miss the waterfall and the intimate town-house setting that Aquavit vacated in 2005. Thankfully, however, the food and staff have had no trouble adjusting to the transition. Everything remains first-rate. The restaurant is now in the bottom of a glass tower on East 55th Street, and designed in sleek Scandinavian style with modernist furniture. In the front of the restaurant is an informal and less expensive cafe, while past a long bar is the dining room. After the move, if anything, the food has improved. The smoked fish -- all the fish -- is prepared perfectly. I often daydream about the herring plate: four types of herring accompanied by a tiny glass of aquavit, distilled liquor not unlike vodka flavored with fruit and spices, and a frosty Carlsberg beer. The hot smoked Arctic char on the main a la carte menu, served with clams and bean puree in a mustard green broth, is also a winner. Most fixed-price menus offer a well-chosen beverage accompaniment option.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New York City 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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