New York City Dining Short List

Many times each day, people ask us where to eat.

A Midtown worker needs a new business lunch spot. A couple is hunting for an intimate, off-the-radar restaurant. A mass of friends is desperate for an ideal birthday dinner table.

Everyone wants an answer, and everyone wants it fast. Well, help has arrived: introducing Short List, Tasting Table's indispensable, quick-hit guide to where to eat and drink right now.

A complement to our local-edition e-mails, Short List is a snapshot of the restaurants–both new finds and old favorites–that our editors have been enjoying recently. Each of the entries is flagged with icons to indicate whether the place is new, well-priced, open for lunch, group-friendly, great for dates or worth a splurge.

Short List will be updated daily on TastingTable.com and at the bottom of every Tasting Table e-mail that lands in your in-box.

Where we've been lately in NYC: Vai Spuntino for small plates of oyster mushrooms layered with Manchego, a supper of gravy-covered chicken-fried steak at The Brooklyn Star and new spring cocktails at Vandaag.

And because hunger strikes when you least expect it, the mobile version of Short List launches today as part of our free Tasting Table To-Go app for the iPhone.

Go, eat: You can thank us later.