The Waverly Inn

Nightlife impresario and hotelier Sean MacPherson together with former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter opened this legendary New York nook in 1999. With handpainted murals of 43 Greenwich Village luminaries like Allen Ginsberg, E.E. Cummings, and Fran Leibowitz, you can expect to see the same literary types at the table next to you, or floating around in the ivy-filled latticed garden out back. Formerly unknown, now-famous chef John DeLucie catapulted himself to stardom in the kitchen here, with clever takes on classic dishes: The truffle mac and cheese is a calling card, and at $95 a worthy investment. The chicken pot pie is also a winner, along with the sirloin steak. If you happen to swing by Bank Street and Waverly Place on a weekend, the peekytoe crab benedict, Bloody Mary, housemade scones and a copy of the New York Times is the perfect prelude to a lazy day of museum-going or antique hunting.