A running list, in the order they came to mind, of favorite restaurants:
Coco Pazzo, La Esquina, Raoul's, Chin Chin, Rosa Mexicano (East Side), Orsay, E.A.T., Pastis, Balthazar, Matsuri, Ye Waverly Inn, Francisco's Centro Vasco, Indochine, El Teddy's, Cafe Cluny, Carlyle Hotel (Bemelman's Bar), P.J. Clarke's, Serafina, La Lunchonette, Cafe Boulud, Freeman's, Sant Ambroeus, Rickshaw Dumpling, Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Bar Pitti, Kelley & Ping, Nobu and Nobu Next Door, Odeon.
[more]Kate & Andy Spade
The Financial District
At New York City's southern tip is the Financial District: home to City Hall, the New York Stock Exchange, and Wall Street. Here day traders, financiers, and the city government and legal system hum throughout the day. The blocks emptied of the World Trade Center are no longer silent: Daniel Libeskind’s Freedom Tower is going up. If business doesn’t bring you to Wall Street, bring yourself for pleasure. Wonderful old mercantile offices look south onto Battery Park and Governer’s Island beyond it. Battery Park City offers a newly refurbished greenway--lovely in itself--with spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty. Heading east and north bypass South Street Seaport (pure tourist trap), and linger on neighboring Water Street for a reminder of the great fishing port that New York City once was.