From January 2006 100 Very Best Restaurants

THE SCENE: Jose Andres solidified his reputation here by dabbling in the flavors of Nuevo Latino, but now Atlantico is the playground of his protege Katsuya Fukushima. The spiraling, three-floor dining room, a blaze of tropical colors, stays loud and crowded long into the night. 

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: Like his mentor, Fukushima hails from the Ferran Adria school of culinary art, where deliciousness is nothing unless it's shot through with playfulness. If you're not up for the Minibar, the 30-plus-course carnival ride offered upstairs, Atlantico is a good place to give the style a whirl, with dishes like oysters with passionfruit air and deconstructed Caesar salad. Alongside are some of the best fruity drinks in the city--mojitos, mango daiquiris, rum-spiked passionfruit juice, and pisco sours--plus wine and Champagne flights. And the all-you-can-eat Latino dim sum brunch is one of the best ways to sample the style--and one of the best brunches in the area.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Some think the Adria-approved foams, airs, and injections smack of trendiness and quackery, and a few dishes--risotto with rice krispies, duck confit with a lacquer of sugar--add credence to the argument.

BEST DISHES. A lobe of foie gras with mole and sweet sauces; soft, seared salmon belly with pineapple and quinoa; seared salmon with papaya-vanilla oil; dessert piña colada; an elegant tres leches cake with candied cashews and pineapple confit.