Critics' choice: Steak houses that break from tradition

La Tête d'Or

New York City

"Can you even call yourself a New York mega-restaurateur without a steak house?" asked Matthew Schneier in NYMag.com . Pioneering chef Daniel Boulud had grown his portfolio to a dozen New York City establishments before he finally opened La Tête d'Or late last year, and this latest destination turns out to be a meeting of American burliness and French finesse.

The place gives off a glow that's "like a flame for high-spend moths," and the menu abounds with Franco-American marriages such as a wedge salad elevated by "gamy ribbons of smoked tongue." And what of the beef? "La Tête d'Or has one excellent cut: a 10-ounce slab of prime rib, served with all due pomp and circumstance." Carved tableside, it's "almost unbearably tender after eight hours of slow roast