Chef-driven, wine-list-considered, view-when-the-light-drops. Reservations recommended at all of them; required at three.
The old New York Wine & Culinary Center, rebranded and still doing the same work — a full restaurant, tasting room, and hands-on cooking classes built around New York State producers. Book the chef's-counter seats if you're eating; sit at the bar if you're pouring. Walkable from Kershaw Park and the City Pier.
Naples's farm-to-table room — a short, produce-driven menu that changes with what's coming out of the surrounding fields. Twenty seats and a chalk board. Reservations are essential in leaf season; Tuesday and Wednesday are the sane nights. Bring cash for the tip jar even if you card the check.
Chef Suzanne Vizethann's Bristol destination — Southern-inflected cooking, a serious biscuit program, and a wine list that reads Finger Lakes-first. The buttermilk fried chicken and pimento cheese are the tells. Sunday brunch fills three weeks out in fall; a weeknight dinner is the easier reservation and the better meal.