Pastis
9 Ninth Avenue
212-929-4844
For those of you who prefer "just a light bite" when the night is at its darkest, have some ice-cold milk and cookies and go to bed. Come on. You know better. Nothing enhances the glee of staying out late like a real meal. Like a thick, hearty stew guaranteed to set off nightmares at precisely the hour of the wolf, but at a quarter to three, boy, is it one for your dreams. There's a bowl of sinewy braised beef with glazed carrots at Pastis that fits the room -- and your sly mood -- almost as perfectly as the surrounding golden light reduces dark circles. So you'll pay for it later. Come sunrise, the beef should be the worst of your regrets.