Down by the Hipster
A Great Non-Date-Spot Date Spot

You're crazy for the Lower East Side. Your ironic T-shirts feel at home there, and it's a nourishing environment for your girlfriend's burgeoning [insert artistic endeavor here] career.

Still, one thing it doesn't do much of is straight-ahead class. Till last week, anyway, when Allen & Delancey opened.

Situated on the northwest corner of, of all places, Allen and Delancey, Allen & Delancey is the rare gem of refinement in a sea of hip-and-fun non-refinement. Slip past the velvet curtain into this dark, candlelit space at the bottom of a newly built condo, and you'll feel as if you've stepped off the LES reservation. (We think it'll make for a great non-date-spot date spot—and if that doesn't make any sense, pull up a stool at the black mirror bar, surrounded by some 30 candles, tattered old books and paintings, and order Mules (Plantations Barbados rum, ginger beer, lime) until it does.)

Then, head back to one of two exposed-brick-laden rooms and savor precisely composed dishes from French-trained chef Neil Ferguson (The London NYC), like Caramelized Bone Marrow and Caviar, Colorado Lamb Chop and Potato Puree and Slow-Roasted Gala Apple Ice Cream.

Talk about a nourishing environment.