Compose

This handsome, highbrow venue has just 10 seats for dinner (to be reserved exclusively on OpenTable) and another 20 for bar snacks and bespoke, "dialogue-based" cocktails, as in "Tell me the sort of drink you like and I'll surprise you"—complete with juices squeezed to order and "dead clear" ice hand-cut to fit each glass. Chef Nick Curtin, who recently did a stint at Noma in Copenhagen, which was named the best restaurant in the world in 2010, shares what he learned there via his 10-course tasting menu. Dishes change according to market availability, embroidered with obscure ingredients and borne of state-of-the-art cooking techniques. To wit: mozzarella with tea-smoked grapes, "Kir Royale" champagne gelée with cassis aspic, and razor clams in almond broth with sea beans and green tea oil.