The reincarnation of Charlie Palmer’s Manhattan flagship restaurant, Aureole, includes a display of 3,500 wine bottles in a vaulted mezzanine above the bar. Palmer—who moved his 20-year-old bastion of fine dining from its original townhouse location into a new glass-encased space at One Bryant Park—selected the James Beard Foundation’s 2005 Rising Star Chef winner, Christopher Lee, to lead the updated restaurant. Reopened in September, Aureole serves such delicacies as Lee’s interpretation of Palmer’s original scallop sandwich, which the new chef makes with two pieces of pan-crisped white bread and a garnish of seared foie gras. Lee’s Parallel Tasting Menu offers side-by-side variations on a theme ingredient for each of four courses (three savory and one dessert). In the Bar Room, set off from the main dining area, patrons can pair more casual fare with one of the several thousand wines on display—or one of the more than 12,500 additional bottles Palmer keeps on the premises.
Aureole, 212.319.1660, www.charliepalmer.com
