Café Gitane, NoLita, New York.

For around a decade now, this tiny Mott Street café/restaurant has been serving up its own take on French Morroccan to swizzle-stick models and the uber-hip. Café Habana may be the new kid around the corner giving it a run for its cash-only money; every few months there's a warning written somewhere that Gitane is about to lose its cool...and, mind the attitude. The Luxury Travel Bible, nevertheless, eschews all. Decorated with the casual insouciance of the confident, our NYC correspondent still regards this café as one of the easiest places in New York to show-up solo on a stool at the bar to dine or schmooze away an afternoon at a side-walk table. Must-have is the Moroccan Couscous. DS

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