51 Lincoln

"Earthy-crunchy" isn't how we'd describe 51 Lincoln, a polished little dining room and bar serving craft cocktails and schmancy cheeses. Unless by "earthy" we meant the wild mushroom ragout that chef Jeff Fournier spoons over scallops, and "crunchy" referred to his famous polenta fries. Sure, he adores local ingredients from sustainable farms and grows produce in his own garden. Yet his greenness is cleverly packaged in a changing lineup of dishes like carrot-ginger soup with smoked-paprika crème fraîche, and flatiron steak with jalapeño jam—making him a perfect match for the yuppie-hippie types in this part of town. RUNNER-UP: Tomasso Trattoria LAST YEAR: N/A