Sonora Restaurant, Port Chester

Sonora Restaurant– lauded in the New York Times for its menu's sophistication– puts a lot of twists on the classic ideas of South American cooking. This is all thanks to Bogotá-born head chef and owner Rafael Palomino, who built his board of fare from the ceviches, paellas, and tapas dishes he remembered fondly from childhood—then enhanced them with techniques he learned while cooking in New York and Paris. The result is a signature ceviche made with sweet mango and buttery lobster. The succulent crustaceans also appear in the restaurant's house trio of tapas, alongside foie gras and passionfruit sorbet. Asparagus and quinoa arrive wrapped inside Spanish-style croquettes and crowned with mint yogurt sauce. The chef likewise dresses up the crispy fried oysters of his childhood with a side of sweet plantains and chorizo sausage, topping the plate with saffron-mojito sauce.

Rafael demonstrates equal creativity in his large plates. His staple paella blends four types of shellfish, chorizo sausage, and rice. Other flourishes include rubbing rib-eye steaks with rich ground coffee and sautéing scallops with Mexican sweet corn in Chardonnay sauce. For dessert, the dulce de leche cheesecake with guava sauce is highly recommended, with its inspiration attributed to Argentine pastry chefs and that time the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man exploded.