Mezzogiorno Restaurant

While the star of this SoHo restaurant is certainly its cuisine—the menu is based on the authentic Florentine cucina prepared by executive chef Alessandro Gargani—locals also flock to view the Cornell-like boxes created by 100 commissioned artists that contain paintings, objects and collages and form an intriguing puzzle along the walls of the dining room. And while you’re eating, be sure to look up at the ceiling, where you’ll find excerpts from the diary of 16th-century Tuscan Renaissance artist Pontormo.