Best of New York 2015 • Eating

• Upland

  345 Park Ave. S., entrance on 26th St.; 212-686-1006

  “Every lettuce tells a story,” says chef Justin Smillie, whose five-leaf Caesar deftly interweaves the variously crisp, sweet, and bitter narratives of Little Gem lettuce, crinkly lacinato kale, and three varieties of radicchio (Castelfranco, Tardivo, and Treviso). He gives the bowl a double whammy of anchovy flavor in the form of a garlicky vinaigrette and a crunchy powder he makes by dehydrating oil-cured fillets for 24 hours and mixing them with bread crumbs. Thin-shaved Bordeaux radish add bite, crunch, and a burst of “Barney purple” color. And as the seasons change, so will the greens—and Smillie’s salad’s story.

From the 2015 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine