Madame Bella: Dinner That Turns Into a Dance Floor by Midnight

A fire dancer comes down the staircase at Madame Bella just as the last plates of beef tartare are cleared, and the room, which an hour earlier felt like a candlelit dinner party, tips into something louder and warmer. At the entrance a DJ has been working since the first guests arrived, raising the volume by small degrees. Long pale tables carry a single small candle each, the open kitchen throws heat and the smell of charred onion across the floor, and a dancer in costume beckons a table of diners to stand. This is Ibn Gabirol 14 on a Thursday night, in the space where Gotcha once ran its second branch, remade as a party restaurant that cooks seriously enough to earn the attention it draws.

The kitchen belongs to Chef Noam Shitrit, and the menu reads like a conversation between several traditions that agree on one thing: flame. French technique supplies the structure, with long simmered stocks, patiently built sauces and a goose liver pâté finished under a brûlée crust. Bukharian cooking arrives in the dushpara, small meat dumplings in broth. A light Asian touch shows up in the fish. Plant based aromatic oils, citrus and coriander above all, run through much of the menu, brightening rich meat dishes the way a squeeze of lemon would.