Small plates of quirky, distinctive dishes are shared with reluctance at this downtown home for Ignacio Mattos, a quirky, distinctive chef with a vision who’s gaining notice fast.

Website: estelanyc.com
Number of seats: 65
Average per-person check: $50
Popular dishes: Beef tartare with sunchoke; ricotta dumplings with mushrooms and pecorino sardo; beef with charred leeks, potato and taleggio.
What people come for: Daily menu changes, distinctive cocktails.
Address: 47 E. Houston St.
Phone Number: 212-219-7693

This scion of the beloved Brooklyn restaurant Franny’s (which moved to a bigger space nearby and made room for Marco’s) peers toward Italy but keeps its purview close, with local ingredients enlisted in worldly preparations by former Franny’s chef Danny Amend.

Website: marcosbrooklyn.com
Number of seats: 50
Average per-person check: $65
Popular dishes: Wood-grilled oysters with pickles and black pepper; spit-roasted chicken with blood oranges and grilled bread; wood-grilled lamb chops scottadito with erbette chard and Sicilian condiments. What people come for: Inventive sophistication in downtown Brooklyn.
Address: 295 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Phone Number: 718-230-0427

Chef Richard Kuo’s inventive and casual home for serious but unstilted devotion to food has become a downtown destination for restaurant-industry pros and members of the Beastie Boys alike.

Website: pearlandash.com
Number of seats: 62
Average per-person check: $40
Popular dishes: Octopus with sunflower seed and shiso; pork meatballs with shiitake, bonito and soppressata; hanger tartare with egg, cocoa and melba; Fernet-Branca ice cream sandwich.
What people come for: Celebrated wine program by Patrick Cappiello, a decorated sommelier who traded his “suit and tie for a Black Flag T-shirt.”
Address: 220 Bowery
Phone Number: 212-837-2370