La Vie, New York

At La Vie Restaurant & Lounge, light from moroccan lamps takes on bright colors and effuses across clouds of sweet hookah smoke between DJs and belly dancers. Patrons carrying plates laden with skewers and pizzas that blend French and Moroccan culinary traditions zigzag between canopied and candlelit booths strewn with crimson and gold throw pillows. Plush red benches and stools, sprawling underneath mirrors set in gilded frames, grant ample views of a hardwood dance floor and a chance for ground-floor investment in new dance moves. Live bands play music until as late as 4 a.m., with themed evenings focusing on specific genres. Glasses overflowing with fruit-infused cocktails chase off lingering spices and clink together in gleeful toasts between walls with textural accents of stone and beaten copper.