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When you’re feasting on a platter of cheese pierogies at Veselka, and loaded nachos from Wildwood BBQ, it’s nice to temper your finger-shaking “you said you’d order kale!” conscience with the fact that hey, you’re going green so scram. In NYC, only a select bunch of restaurants are actually Certified Green – meaning they’re using eco-friendly products and conserving energy and water – and the list just might surprise you (where are all those vegan restaurants?) Here are our favorites:

At Cherrywood Kitchen, a classed-up New American spot from chef Chris Cheung (Jean-Georges, Nobu), a cherrywood log burns on the fire and makes for a rack of ribs on par with the best of any Gotham barbeque offerings. In a twist of pairings, the apple celery slaw is the real spicy counterpart to the rich but milder ribs. You can eat them with a fork and knife—the bones just fall to the bottom of the plate. In fact, it may be best to keep your hands off, since Cheung doesn’t shy away from slathering on a sweet chili glaze, and the sexy librarian-themed dining room doesn’t exactly jibe with wet wipe packets.

If there can be an entire restaurant dedicated to grilled cheese, then certainly a temple to one of the world's most hallowed tipples seems more than reasonable, especially in Las Vegas. And the Cognac Lounge comes by way of equally hallowed culinary god Guy Savoy, whose restaurant in Vegas' Caesars Palace has already earned two Michelin stars. Bottles are not "stocked" here--they're "acquired." And several are exclusive to the restaurant and lounge, including the 140-years-aged Perfection by Hardy, a special Hennessy Ellipse, and the 1990-bottled Hine Talent, fittingly housed in hand-etched Baccarat crystal.

Let me tell you how to make a perfect sushi hand roll. Start by holding a piece of seaweed, shiny side down, in your non-dominant hand. Take a wooden paddle with your other hand and put a schmear of sticky rice on the seaweed, creating a little channel in the center of the rice. Then, using tongs, add your various components in that channel, like a strip of yellowtail, a scoop of salmon roe, a squirt of wasabi, and a sprinkle of chopped scallion. Take the near corner of the seaweed and fold it over the rice a little more than halfway up, tucking it in gently but firmly, before rolling it into a perfect little cone. Who am I to tell you how to make sushi? Well, I was only taught how to do it by Nobu Matsuhisa himself, during the unveiling of the Nobu Hand Roll Box at Nobu 57 on Tuesday night, and I'm pretty sure he knows a thing or two about sushi. In fact, he's going to be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 South Beach Wine & Food Festival this Saturday at the Loews Miami Beach resort. So, yeah, after making one sushi hand roll, I'm kind of an expert.

WEDNESDAY (tonight): Richie Notar's Latest Parlor Harlow Opens 
Studio 54 and Nobu legend Richie Notar flies solo with Harlow, his glamorous new restaurant and parlor bar. Part of a 1926 gift from William Randolph Hearst to mistress Marion Davies, the space still has its original chandeliers and stained glass. Modern art (there’s a Warhol) updates the look, providing an elegant backdrop for a globe-trotting seafood menu. The raw bar nods back to Nobu with Japanese accents. For dinner, it’s creative combos like salmon with chorizo-Asian pear salsa, or Australian wagyu with fresh chimichurri.

WEDNESDAY: French Turns Japanese
Bâoli’s executive chef, Gustavo Vertone, has brought on his sushi counterpart directly from across the street.  Formerly of Nobu, Chef Fnu “Danie” Armandani, is turning out some finger-licking good rolls using lux ingredients like Kobe beef, truffles, and caviar. As if Bâoli’s notorious Wednesday night “My Boyfriend is Out of Town” shindigs weren’t reason enough to drop in on this French debauchery central, we now have a BâoliRoll to keep us salivating.
Bâoli (1906 Collins Ave., South Beach) is now serving sushi. For details, check out the listing in BlackBook Guides.

To get new restaurants off the ground, owners are turning to the support of potential neighbors and regulars.

"I’d like to go to a time when cocaine was awesome"

Sushi hotel - I'm not particularly fond of the connotations. For anyone who has ever visited a fish market in Tokyo, I think you catch my drift. It's not a building made of sushi, but it might as well be, because after a day at the fishmonger's place, anything that pairs construction terminology with fresh fish will forever bring you back to this guy. Eating them, yes—but who wants to sleep with the fishes? But what if it's a Nobu hotel, you say? Well in that case, bring it.

● Maggie Gyllenhaal @ the Fresh Air Fund gala: Al di La and Il Buco: anything there! ● Maggie Rizer: At Nobu I get everything. I like the sea bass and the lettuce leaves, the tuna sashimi salad, the shishito peppers, and the Kobe beef. ● Brian Williams: I'm laughing because my wife and I go to the same two places all the time! There's a little French place on Lexington; there's a pasta place on 49th, Alfredo's, because it's right next to NBC.