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"  It was once a rare occurrence for a steakhouse to make this list, but last year, Wolfgang Puck&amp;#039;s Cut was our Restaurant of the Year. Cut, along with other steakhouses like Prime and Craftsteak in Las Vegas and BLT Steak, Quality Meats, and Kobe Club in New York have so changed the stereotypical menu and decor of the American chop shop that each new entry in the genre deserves a thorough assessment.  On all counts, Michael Lomonaco&amp;#039;s Porter House New York (which replaced Jean-Georges Vongerichten&amp;#039;s dreary V steakhouse at the Time Warner Center) succeeds not just on superb food and service but on a midtown panorama second to none. Lomonaco, who as chef at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center escaped the 9/11 horror by minutes, now has another window on Manhattan, with a view of Central Park that could be a Woody Allen reverie. The main dining room is a testament to New York swank without being &amp;quot;swanky&amp;quot; -- 140 seats at big, well-spaced tables and roomy booths, with no lousy spots.  The sliced porterhouse here is as close to the Peter Luger&amp;#039;s Brooklyn paragon as you can find in Manhattan, and his Colorado lamb chops -- three massive T-bones -- have the perfect balance of meat, fat, and exterior char. The corn-fried oysters with ancho-chile mayo and jalape\u00F1o pickles make a great starter, and side dishes like &amp;quot;Texas Sweets&amp;quot; (buttermilk onion rings) and unbelievable mac and cheese are on par with the rest of the menu. Maybe someday Lomonaco will follow other steakhouse pioneers and roll out the Porter House concept, but I hope not: I just don&amp;#039;t see Porter House Boca Raton being quite the same. When you make a reservation, ask for a table as near to the windows as possible. 10 Columbus Circle; 212-823-9500; porterhousenewyork.com. Things we overheard here: Woman: &amp;quot;Excuse me -- and you might not agree with this -- but sailboats use a lot less fossil fuel.&amp;quot; First man: &amp;quot;I hate sailboats. I&amp;#039;d rather turn on the AC while you make me some drinks.&amp;quot; Second man: &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re certainly hung up on this fuel thing. It&amp;#039;s not my problem.&amp;quot;  This year&amp;#039;s list spans cities and cuisines, but the restaurants share at least one trait: a palpable feeling that the owners are giving their all to please you. Oyamel, Washington, D.C.  * [Back to Best New Restaurants, 2007] * Rae, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/reviews/a3592/porterhouse1107/>