(LOS ANGELES) - Maybe it’s that the outside of Barbrix, located in hip Silver Lake, looks like a burnished version of the 1940s-era house it once was; or that owners Claudio Blotta and his wife, Adria Tennor, have a way of waving hi to every diner as if...

(HAMPSHIRE, U.K.) - The last time I ate at Little Chef, the U.K.’s largest chain of motorway fast-food outlets, the kitchen had a power outage, so they couldn’t make my omelet.

This week’s roundup includes the latest ventures from two of Manhattan’s most beloved chefs, plus a new Denver restaurant that really hits the spot.

(DENVER) - John Broening and Yasmin Lozada-Hissom are a pair of chefs with an old-school appreciation for craft without flash and a very modern sense of seasonality and locality.

(NEW YORK CITY) - With a raised ceiling and a clean, uncluttered look (lots of white with a few red accents), Marea’s become a space you want to hang out in.

(NEW YORK CITY) - My advice: Don’t miss the little fava bean crostino, or the amazingly fine wood-fired shrimp, and definitely go for the chicken. The pastas were all wonderful, too.

(BARCELONA) - Always have a bite of buttered bread before you eat a raw oyster, says Luís De Buen; that way you’ll never get an upset stomach.

(NEW YORK) - We were sitting at the counter that looks directly into the open kitchen, so when chef George Mendes began assembling the sardine appetizer I had a clear view of it.

(SAN FRANSISCO) - With a name like RN74 (the highway through the Burgundy region in France), you’d expect to find French fare.

(HOUSTON) - What happens when an avant-garde chef throws in with an old-guard restaurant? Love, May–December style.