Diamond Restaurants Sparkle

By Andrea Cohen

Carl Quagliata, owner of Ristorante Giovanni, is pleased that the restaurant has met all of the award's lofty qualifications. In fact, the restaurant has won the award eight years running.

Maitre d' Pierre Gregori adds that the restaurant was recognized because it strives to give diners old-fashioned elegance: "Modern restaurants are too informal. People want to be pampered when they're eating."

Quagliata's favorite dish is the veal chop ($33), a lean loin served either broiled and breaded, with angelhair pasta and fresh tomato-basil sauce, or chargrilled with a veal reduction sauce, potatoes au gratin and spinach and portabella mushrooms.