The art of perfect vibes: How NYC’s hottest restaurants got that way

IT’S A Monday night at Torrisi in Manhattan’s SoHo neighbourhood, and the brick-lined dining room is packed. At one table, a cashmere-clad young couple gleefully plots a coming vacation. At a round banquette, a group of older women in blazers clink glasses over a big birthday. Rows of guys directly in from finance jobs wave around big watches. The buzz is energetic; laughter ripples around the room. Our server, a smiling goateed guy in a cream-coloured tuxedo jacket, comes by. “Hi,” he says, leaning in. “I’m Fernando, and we’re going to have fun tonight.” I have to believe him: Every table is celebrating. And it’s only 5.30 pm on the slowest restaurant night of the week.

“We call it ‘Torrisi, the Musical’,” says Rich Torrisi, the chef behind this dynamic Italian American sibling of the world-famous Carbone, who stops by our table. “We make everyone feel like they’re part of the show, and that we’re celebrating with them.”

The music rises ever so slowly through speakers subtly positioned high along the walls, until eventually the energy reaches concert levels. After all, on a given night, the waitlist to get in can top 7,300 – double the number of seats at Carnegie Hall.