Le Bernardin is seafood discipline elevated to an art of restraint. Eric Ripert's kitchen is famous for knowing exactly how little to do to a piece of fish, but that simplicity depends on ruthless precision: texture, temperature, sauce and seasoning are adjusted until the ocean seems clearer rather than richer. The Midtown dining room is elegant and grown-up, yet the food is rarely heavy. It is luxury by subtraction, a restaurant that has stayed relevant by refusing to overcomplicate what it understands best.