Per Se brings Thomas Keller's meticulous style to Columbus Circle with Central Park as a backdrop and The French Laundry as a spiritual sibling. The cooking is French-American in structure: polished canapés, impeccable sauces, vegetables, seafood and meats presented with a devotion to balance and repetition-free progression. The experience is formal, but not joyless; its pleasures are cumulative, built through tiny adjustments of texture and generosity. It is New York fine dining for diners who still believe craft can be a destination.