If you have stuffed peacocks, flaunt them, right? But the good folks at Bellemore place their colorful birds on wrought-iron perches so high above the bar you have to crane your neck to take in their taxidermic majesty. That turns out to be an apt metaphor for this new Boka Restaurant Group stunner—a place that knows how to dazzle without ever coming off as ostentatious.

Bellemore plants its flag on a precise spot in the dining landscape, just south of ultra-high-end but still within the realm of luxury. You might eat foie gras, shaved curls of it that you spoon up with bittersweet chocolate brioche, persimmon marmalade, and Gewürtztraminer gelée. Or you might eat caviar, heaped atop a custardy wedge of oyster pie and served with a glass of vintage Moët & Chandon. But you won’t poke through twee, tweezery compositions. Chef and partner Jimmy Papadopoulos (Bohemian House) revels in glorious excess, layering each dish with flavors that hold your interest bite after bite.

Don’t miss:The duck ($36), dry-aged for 21 days in the restaurant’s basement prep kitchen and shellacked to crisp perfection with burnt honey.