The Butterfly, NYC

Michael White's latest endeavor is a bit of a departure. Unlike his other Altamarea Group restaurants Marea, Ai Fiori, and Costata, a visit to The Butterfly in TriBeCa doesn't require a special occasion or an expense account. It does require, however, a taste for the vintage and the mid-century modern—both in design and somewhat in cuisine. For those wondering about the restaurant's name, it actually hails from Wisconsin (as does White): working at the Butterfly Club in Beloit was one of White's first cooking jobs. Although he was there in 1989, White's NYC reinterpretation has a mod 1960's feel, rendered by Stefano Angeli and Franco Rosignolo, his frequent design collaborators. You'll find George Nelson clocks, mid-century Scandinavian cupboards, a Sputnik pendant fixture—even the waitstaff wears plastic pen pocket protectors. The menu skews toward Americana nostalgia, too. There are versions of a reuben, a patty melt, and fried chicken on the menu; our dessert, called Little B, was like a fancy, and equally yummy, Ring Ding. The Midwest Butterfly offered entertainment with dinner; the urban version plans to host screenings of Packers football games and the Oscars on a huge flat-screen. 

Crab cakes

the upscale Ring-Ding: Little B