Nicole's Ten Restaurant, Randolph

To understand what makes Nicole's Ten Restaurant special, the numbers give a good starting point:

• More than 100: how many beers (many of which are local) kept on bottle and draft.
• 30 plus: how many wines poured by the glass.
• 11: number of available cocktails, made with fresh ingredients including house-made simples and purees, as well as small batch and local liquors whenever possible
• 2013: the year its lobster mac and cheese won "Best Mac and Cheese in New Jersey" in the New Jersey Food & Wine Festival.

Stats aside, all one really needs to understand the restaurant's appeal is to enter its space, where soft music plays and candlelight flickers off of flowing drapes. In many ways, Nicole's Ten Restaurant resembles an art gallery, just one where you're allowed to eat everything on display.

That shouldn't come as a surprise, since executive chef Chris Masey boasts a background in art and photography. Working alongside owner and restaurant namesake Nicole Dabal, Chris has dreamed up a menu of artfully presented dishes which cull flavors from all over the world, creating a menu that is as fun to read as the dishes are to eat. Servers display a casual ease with the menu, engaging in a friendly rapport with guests while ensuring that they have fun, leave full and satisfied, and come back again and again.