Restaurants in Newark

Concepts of pastoral and modern dining melt together in David Burke Kitchen's main dining room, which was designed by Thomas Schlesser, winner of a James Beard Foundation award for Best Restaurant Design. In an open kitchen, David Burke leads an adept staff—including executive chef Chris Shea—as they infuse the menu's locally sourced ingredients with artistic whimsy. At the center of the space, chefs deftly carve and plate duck, beef, blue-foot hens, whole roasted fish, and lobster, entertaining diners as they await their cuisine. At tables, blue-checkered napkins call to mind a slow-paced rural feast; after meals, contented sighs float up to the rough-hewn wooden planks of the soaring ceiling.

A glass-enclosed wine cellar showcases bottles and satyrs' ineffectual heist plans beneath the cascades of light flowing in through an open skylight. Cocktails ring festively in toasts in the lofted Treehouse Bar, which parks patrons at counter seats overlooking Sixth Avenue. The staff also hosts special events nearly every night of the week, whether it's a Sunday suckling-pig roast or a Thursday-night live DJ at the Treehouse Bar.

The party professionals at Biny Karaoke Bar thrill guests with karaoke, rotating drink specials, and Japanese fusion fare. Diners situated in one of seven private karaoke rooms or the restaurant's fluorescently decorated main lounge can choose one of more than 20,000 songs to sing while munching on sushi rolls, indulging in innovative Japanese entrees such as salmon teriyaki or tonkatsu, or air-drumming with chopsticks. Karaoke songs span from 1960 to present day and are available in multiple languages.

During the 2012 Thai Restaurant Week, 11 metropolitan Thai eateries were recognized by Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's Prime Minister, with a certification from the Thai Trade Center acknowledging their superior quality of ingredients, preparation, and authentic flavors. One look at Ploi Thai's menu and it is not hard to imagine why they received such an honorable distinction. Their dishes––such as skewered chicken satay or curry-pasted salmon––tug many culinary threads, blanketing diners in a patchwork of flavors that draw from northern and central Thailand. Chefs conjure these dishes from local ingredients and seasonings, eschewing such questionable additives as MSG and textbooks that attribute the theory of relativity to Franklin Delano Einstein. Since the restaurant is BYOB, diners can tote along their own fermented beverages to pair with the sweet ginger salmon, which arrives in a pool of ginger and black-bean sauce dotted with shiitake-mushroom rafts. Inside the dining room, colorful, low-slung lights illuminate the handful of tables that are strewn across the restaurant's pale hardwood floors, and geometric cutouts and sprays of orchids punctuate cobalt walls.

In the space formerly occupied by il Matto stands a new Tribeca dining concept dedicated to crafting inventive cocktails to round out a seasonal menu of updated Italian dishes. In addition to her contemporary takes on classic mixed drinks, mixologist Cristina Bini stirs a cavalcade of unlikely ingredients into her specialty cocktails, such as stones, tree barks, and dried grasshoppers. Chef Matteo Boglione helms efforts in the kitchen to infuse classic Italian dishes such as pappardelle, ravioli, and lasagna with contemporary twists such as black-truffle sauce, ossobuco ragu, and online bill payments.

Vero uncorks its worldly vino storehouse to present guests with 100 varieties, including 40 available by the glass. To pair with each wine, the restaurant's certified sommelier can suggest something from the menu—a toasty panini, delicate pasta, or creative small plate inspired by areas around the Mediterranean. Specialty cocktails and martinis lend splashes of firewater, satisfying Prohibition-era time travelers with surprising flavors such as lychee and red pepper.

Nestled on the second floor of The Time hotel is Inc Lounge, a tribute to the glamorous music, art, and club culture of the 1970s. The space caters to a Manhattan clientele of bankers, media personalities, and fashion lovers with a menu of cocktails such as a Gin & Sin and a Crimson Sunset. They're served amid Jody Singleton–designed furnishings of black Lucite chandeliers, white patent-leather settees, and red velvet couches. Orchid- and mermaid-themed wallpaper acts as an exotic precursor to a wall of mini plasma screens streaming arty video images. The DJ's beats get louder in the back room, where a black-and-red pool table draws groups of friendly competitors and sleepy club-goers who thought it was a big, comfy bed.