Best Restaurant When Someone Else is Buying

The cozy, romantically lighted dining room in the basement of the Raphael Hotel is like few others in the city, evoking a sense of pre-World War II dignity: tables are cloaked in heavy linen, the china is pretty and the service is extraordinarily attentive. The Raphael Restaurant's longtime chef Peter Hahn is a master at continental dishes like rack of lamb, sumptuously rich pasta creations (such as fettucine Alfredo, thick with cream and imported gorgonzola), artfully prepared fresh seafood and, of course, decadent desserts such as a dense chocolate Marquis. The prices aren't astronomical (so you won't be overwhelmed with guilt when your dining companion snatches up the check), though the setting and the cuisine give that impression. On weekends, it's one of the few restaurants in the city that still offers dining and dancing: Pianist Alan Stribling sings and tinkles the piano keys to standards like "The Summer Wind." Go on, have a fox-trot and a snifter of expensive brandy. You're not paying the tab and, damn it, you're worth it.