Two white-hot restaurants opened in late 1999, and this is one of them (Restaurant Gary Danko is the other). For a brief moment, skeptics wondered whether locals would head downtown to the fifth floor of a hotel and pay more than $30 per entree. It's no mystery now. Since The Fifth Floor's opening, executive chef George Morrone (who opened Aqua and has reigned at L.A.'s Hotel Bel-Air and San Francisco's Campton Place), has enjoyed a month-long waiting list. Like the decor--rich colors and fabrics, red leather and velvet banquettes, Frette linens, zebra-striped carpeting, and a clublike atmosphere--his menu features all things luxurious. You'll see Kobe beef, foie gras, sea urchin (accompanied by salmon paillard, Belon oyster, and diver scallop), caviar, the signature "tuna foie gras," suckling pig à l'orange, milk-fed veal steak with Madeira-glazed sweetbreads, curry oil, and jasmine rice--the list goes on. While giving a nod to the classics, the kitchen goes one step further, into a world of pure modern indulgence. Sommelier Rajat Parr is big on little wineries and specialties from Burgundy; the outstanding wine list offers 250-plus selections.