Artisans

Artisans
Photo by Karen Burd
Imagine standing in the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium. That's what it feels like inside Midtown's Artisans, where the large open kitchen is a central part of the restaurant. (Of course, if you prefer a dark corner, there are plenty of those as well.) It's hard to go into complicated odes about Artisans' food, mostly because it feels wrong. This restaurant isn't overwrought or overthought; it's simply a collection of French food prepared classically with an eye on modern sensibilities. Artisans may not be breaking any new ground here, but what they do, they do very well.