The Spiced Pear

When it comes to restaurants, "luxury" too often boils down to lush décor and an expensive wine list. The Spiced Pear has all that, but the true luxury of this seaside restaurant at Newport's Chanler at Cliff Walk is in the way the staff strives to make every couple, on every night, feel special. That attentiveness ratchets up the romance, which is carried through by a rotating menu of such splurgeworthy contemporary New England cuisine as Berkshire pork tenderloin with vegetables and herb gnocchi, and seared diver scallops with madeira-truffle jus. If the weather's fair, request a table on the terrace to complete the experience.