Restaurant

Chef/co-owner Bill Telepan's love of regional, seasonal produce is manifested not only in the food prepared in his namesake restaurant but also in the décor, which features photographs of local produce and farms. In addition to being a Slow Food supporter, Bill is a dedicated Union Square Greenmarket shopper. The changing seasons are reflected perfectly on his eclectic American menu. The cornucopia of seasonal produce offered at Telepan is complemented by house-smoked ham and trout, heritage breed pork, and pastured veal.

Seersucker is splitting the difference deliciously between local and southern. Chef Robert Newton is sourcing from upstate farmers, the Carroll Gardens farmers' market across the street, and local producers like Blue Marble Ice Cream, Red Hook Winery and Sixpoint Craft Ales, but his cuisine is inspired by the American South—Stoneground Grits Spoonbread, Crispy Pig's Foot, Fried Bologna Sandwich, Pork Belly and Collard Greens, scratch biscuits.

Rye House is a tavern specializing in spirits, wine and beer made in the USA. Cocktails are created with rum from Louisiana, vodka from Idaho, white whiskey from Iowa, gin from Oregon, bourbon from Kentucky (as it should be), applejack from Jersey, and rye made right on the premises. Lynnette Marrero and Jim Kearns, on the bar, learned their mixology from Julie Reiner (Snail-approved Flat Iron Lounge) and Audrey Saunders (Snail-approved Pegu Club) so you can be sure there'll be sure hands on the cocktail shaker.

Rouge Tomate, a massive bi-level urban retreat fashioned of glass, foliage, eco-friendly fabrics and FSC-certified woods, is the Madison Avenue branch of a high-concept Belgian resto committed to a sophisticated cuisine that is also socially and environmentally responsible.

Open since 2000, Rose Water was "slow" long before it was in, and long before Park Slope became a foodie destination.

Momofuku is Japanese for "lucky peach"; it is American for a strange and wonderful little restaurant empire in the East Village. David Chang is a chef without borders – his highly technical cuisine, by turns Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and New American, is always market-driven, and mines the dark underbelly of the local bounty.

Galen Zamarra, chef/co-owner of Mas (farmhouse) and Slow Food NYC member, is an exemplary proponent of regional and sustainable eating. In a September 2006 interview with StarChefs.com Galen said, "I'd love to do more projects with Slow Food. And I'm really interested in sustainability, getting restaurants back to nature, and supporting local farmers." Galen is as good as his word (and his words are as good as his food). He is a great supporter of Slow Food NYC, having arranged food for several major events.

Marlow and Sons started as a kind of Diner adjunct, a place next door where overflow could wait at the bar behind a high-quality bodega for takeout sandwiches, coffee, tea, fair-trade chocolate and Fizzy Lizzy. But one thing led to another, and Marlow and Sons is now the neighborhood osteria to Diner's bistro, featuring east coast oysters renowned for their freshness, local salumi and farmstead cheeses, market-based soups, salads, panini and pastas, entrees based on sustainably raised meats from Chef Sean Rembold's whole animal program, and an exceptionally well priced wine list.

It was the whole animal program at Diner and Marlow and Sons that led to the latest addition to the family, Marlow and Daughters, an old-fashioned neighborhood butcher shop in the historic former barbershop just up the block. Caroline and head butcher Tom Mylan buy whole animals from sustainable regional farms like Flying Pigs Farm, 3-Corner Field Farm and Slope Farm, from which they supply the restaurants and produce notable charcuterie, including paté, duck leg confit, several kinds of rillettes and fresh sausages.

Another branch of Mario Batali's Italian restaurant empire, Lupa specifically celebrates the trattoria-style dishes of Rome. Sous-chef Alexis Pisciotta is particularly proud of their handcut pastas, made daily, and house-cured salumi, which is done using traditional methods. They bring in whole animals and utilize everything—whole cuts for curing, a rack for a special, the balance for sausage or ragu. Their everyday pork is from Heritage Foods USA, the chickens are organic, and they buy locally and sustainably as often as possible.