New York City has no shortage of recommendation-worthy restaurants, and so we're inundated with best-of lists, each purporting to offer THE definitive guide to where to eat. Serious Eats is as guilty of this trend as the next food website, though we take great pride in the exhaustive lengths we're willing to go for our lists—for our piece on the best pizza by the slice in New York City, we spent months traveling the five boroughs and tasting every pie with a decent reputation before we whittled our picks down to a mere 23 locations. But sometimes, when you're looking for the right recommendation, your best bet is simply to know who to ask.

Few people are better informed of the ins and outs of the city's food scene than the very folks who work in it. For this eating itinerary, we spoke to three of New York's top chefs about their favorite restaurants. Together, Alex Raij, chef-owner of El Quinto Pino, Txikito, La Vara, and Saint Julivert Fisherie; Esther Choi, chef-owner of Mokbar, Mokbar Brooklyn, and Ms. Yoo; and Alex Guarnaschelli, executive chef of Butter and television personality/Chopped judge, have put together a list of destination-worthy eateries that have you covered from morning to after-midnight. Find out which tasty things you must try before leaving New York, learn where to get some of the city's best cocktails, discover splurge-worthy fine dining experiences, and more.

It's worth noting that, because this is a subjective collection of recommendations, these chefs' picks are centered in the very areas that they live and work (namely, downtown Manhattan and north Brooklyn). For tips on how to eat your way through the outer boroughs, check out the rest of our New York City dining-out content, including our recently published locals' guides to eating and drinking in Brooklyn and Queens.